District presents education sales tax project list covering $213M+ of prioritized needs; trustees warn it won’t end capital shortfalls

North Dorchester School District 2 facilities staff presented a prioritized project list at the facilities committee meeting on June 22, 2026, asking the board to submit the list to county council as part of a proposed 1% education sales tax process. The packet draws on the district’s 2020 facility and roofing assessments and identifies more than $213 million of prioritized capital needs on the list presented to the county; staff said total district capital needs, including deferred maintenance, could be substantially higher.

The project list shown to trustees groups work into eight facility categories tailored to educational adequacy — roofing and building envelope, HVAC, academic and CTE spaces, safety and access, paving and site work, play and athletic facilities, furniture/equipment and storm-water systems — and is intentionally adaptable to the revenue split and term county council ultimately sets. Mr. Dhy, who led the facilities presentation, said staff compiled the list from the 2020 assessments and continuing updates and brought two supporting binders (facility assessment and roofing assessment) to show scope and priority. Jeff, a member of the facilities team, estimated the combined studies and additions suggest hundreds of millions in needs if all deferred items are counted, while the project list submitted tonight focuses on the district’s highest-priority envelope and programmatic work.

Trustees pressed staff on how much revenue a 1% tax would produce and how proceeds would be used. Tina, the district’s finance lead in the meeting, cited roughly $22 million per year currently available from the district’s 8% capital allocation and repeated staff’s revenue modeling that illustrated a 10-year tax could yield mid‑30s to mid‑40s million dollars per year at full district coverage; staff showed example scenario totals of roughly $262 million (70/30 split over 10 years) and $318 million (85/15 split over 10 years) before a 10% carve‑out staff included for debt relief, which would reduce project dollars by a similar percentage.

Bonding and resolution language were also discussed. Christy and bond counsel Franny told the committee staff added draft language requesting that county council adopt a resolution authorizing the county to apply sales-and-use tax revenue to the education capital projects described in the submission and to pay debt service on general-obligation bonds North Dorchester School District 2 might issue. Staff said the draft requests a 10‑year term in the resolution the district will deliver to the county but noted the county ultimately controls the number of years and the split between districts.

Several trustees urged caution about sustainability and messaging. Mr. Lee, trustee for District 7, voiced concern that listing a 10‑year term in the district resolution could set unrealistic expectations if the tax does not cover long‑term needs and warned the district to be transparent with voters about what the program would and would not fund. Other trustees said the district needs to pair the tax with a stronger internal preventive‑maintenance plan and be explicit about remaining unfunded needs so voters are not surprised and do not reject future requests.

Staff emphasized phasing: they said the presented list is effectively a phase‑one package designed to be adaptable to the split and duration county council sets, and that larger projects such as a new middle school at Delmare Highway (the district has identified and is purchasing a 50‑acre site) would likely be bonded because the timing and scale exceed pay‑as‑you‑go capacity. Staff also noted Charleston and Berkeley as comparative examples of multi‑phase capital sales taxes that substantially reduced deferred maintenance but still left some unfunded items.

Next steps: the board is scheduled to submit the project list to county council after this meeting and to present the list to county council on July 6; the district will include the draft resolution language addressing use of proceeds and bond authority for debt service. The committee did not record a final county decision or a board vote on the sales‑tax resolution in the facility meeting minutes provided; county council will determine the split and the number of years if the tax proceeds to a ballot or county adoption.