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Willow Gray Opportunity School asks for operating and maintenance funding; board reports director injured but program continuing
Summary
Board chair Stuart Cooner presented four requests—two recurring and two one-time—to sustain the residential school’s operations and recreational programs; he also reported Director Smith was injured and the board is providing interim oversight.
Stuart Cooner, board chair for Willow Gray Opportunity School, told the Public Education and Special Schools Subcommittee the school is requesting a set of recurring and one‑time funds to maintain core services and address aging facilities.
The most immediate funding asks, Cooner said, are $425,000 recurring for cafeteria food, supplies and utilities and $75,000 recurring for student recreational activities. He described the operation as a 24/7 residential program that provides life‑skills and community service opportunities in addition to four core academic classes.
Why it matters: Willow Gray is a residential program that leaders say provides a path to GED completion and workforce readiness. The school asked for funds to maintain basic operations, keep buildings safe and certify a high-impact ropes course used by students and outside groups.
Details presented to the subcommittee included: - Food and utilities: the school said it provides roughly 70,000 meals a year at an approximate annual food cost of $300,000; water and sewer costs run about $60,000 and electricity and gas about $232,000. The school requested $425,000 to cover escalating food and utility costs. - Recreation: $75,000 recurring to support intramural sports, off‑campus cultural activities and other student recreation (school representatives said the figure averages roughly $2 per student per day while enrolled). - Building and office maintenance: a $600,000 nonrecurring request to repair and upgrade aging HVAC units and other building systems; Cooner said the campus buildings average 50–55 years old and require ongoing maintenance. - Ropes course: a one‑time $125,000 request after an annual inspection by the Association for Challenge Course Technology found the zip line and associated tower/poles need replacement to restore certification. The ropes course is also used by other state agencies, Cooner told the subcommittee.
Cooner opened by noting that Director Smith, who has led the school for decades, was recently injured in a fall on Dec. 14 and is in rehabilitative care. Cooner said the board is covering leadership duties in Smith’s absence and quoted Smith’s reported comment to providers: "I ain't got no quit in me." The board said it expects Smith to return but is taking preliminary measures to cover the organization while he recovers.
Committee members asked about contact points (the board identified Christine Avery, the director’s executive assistant, as the interim contact) and about whether outside groups pay to use the ropes course (school representatives said state agencies have not been charged in recent years, though some youth organizations rent the course on weekends for a fee).
Ending: Willow Gray leaders said they expect to continue providing GED and workforce transition services—Cooner told the committee the program typically produces more than 100 GEDs per year—and asked the subcommittee to consider the requests as maintenance and sustainment funding rather than program expansion.
