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Board says DPI award, not local choice, led to East Duplin grant; resident asks why other high schools were not selected
Summary
A resident asked why East Duplin was chosen for a state need-based grant; board members said the district submitted two applications and DPI ranked East Duplin higher because of modular classroom needs, and they pledged to continue pursuing funding for the other three high schools.
At its Jan. 6 business session the Duplin County Board of Education responded to a public question about why East Duplin High School received a state need-based grant instead of other local high schools.
Angela Vess Mainer, a resident from the Warsaw District, told the board she was concerned that "East Duplin been chosen and not Wallace Rose Hill or James Keenan," and asked why the district had selected East Duplin for the state award.
A board member said the district did not unilaterally pick the school. "We had no input of which school," the board member said, describing the award as a state decision made through the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) grant-ranking process. The board member said the district submitted two applications and that "East Duplin actually had a little more classroom replacement in it than James Keenan," which helped the project rank higher under the state criteria. The board member also noted that the DPI award amounted to roughly $32,000,000 for East Duplin.
The board explained the grant is a statewide, need-based program administered by DPI and said Superintendent Green and DPI staff reviewed submitted plans and decided which project would receive funds. "It's a grant," one board member said, adding that the district’s role was to apply and provide project plans for ranking.
Board members emphasized the decision does not mean the other three high schools were dropped from planning. Another board member said the district and county commissioners "are still trying to fund the other three schools," that the most expensive project is funded through the DPI award, and that plans have been drawn up for all four high schools. The board said it will continue working with county commissioners to pursue funding for the remaining projects.
The meeting record shows the board moved on after the exchange without taking further formal action on the grant selection; the question from the public remains a matter of record and the board said it will continue seeking funding for additional high school projects.
