Rowan commissioners authorize Kannapolis schools to apply for state needs-based grant for A.L. Brown High School

The Rowan County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 1 voted to allow Kannapolis City Schools to submit an application for a state needs‑based school construction grant for A.L. Brown High School.

Kannapolis Superintendent Dr. Sarah Newell told the commission the high school currently enrolls about 1,750 students and the district projects enrollment could reach about 2,000 by 2027. She said the district is seeking state funding to add classrooms, a new cafeteria and relocate the front office to improve site security and operations.

Why it matters: district officials said the project would address immediate capacity and safety issues at a high school whose main buildings date from the 1950s and whose Cannon Gym was built in 1932. The grant application would trigger a county match if approved by the state; Newell said the state requires a 15% local match and that, on the project estimate shown to the commission, Rowan Countywould be responsible for about $4,950,000 of a $99,300,000 total shown in materials. Newell also said the state program can award up to $62,000,000 on some projects.

Details presented to the board included: current cafeteria capacity of about 400 students within a four‑lunch schedule for roughly 1,750 pupils (requiring overflow areas); removal of Cannon Gym and replacement with a building that would include a cafeteria, relocated front office and roughly 16 classrooms; and renovation of the old cafeteria into space for career‑technical programs such as drone technology and JROTC. Newell said 75% of A.L. Brown students attend from Cabarrus County and 25% from Rowan County, and Kannapolis officials have discussed how Cabarrus would contribute its share of any required match.

Commission action was limited to granting permission for the district to apply to the state; Newell and county staff noted that if the state approves an award, the county would have a later decision on whether to accept and fund the local match. The commission moved and seconded the request; the clerk called the voice vote in the affirmative.

The district asked for a signature from the vice chair to complete the application package; Newell said the state expected to notify applicants of decisions in roughly two months and that the district planned to return to the board for budget presentations in the spring if needed.