The ballot for the October 11 bond referendum lists thirteen Iredell-Statesville schools. The ballot wording, which was approved by the county commissioners at the request of school officials, is highly misleading.

There is no legal guarantee that all the listed schools will receive bond money. When pressed, school officials concede it is likely that some of the projects on the ballot will not be funded.

Nor do the schools listed on the ballot necessarily depend on approval of the bond referendum for funding. Even if the bond is defeated, about half the projects will be paid for by the $43.3 million in COPS bonds the commissioners plan to issue (see article on page 1).

The first item listed on the ballot is “constructing an elementary school in the Mt. Mourne area.” This project was apparently added at the last minute.

Bond issues must be cleared with the Local Government Commission (LGC), a branch of the state Treasurer’s office. The list of projects on the form the school system submitted to the LGC did not include Mt. Mourne. Nor was the project listed on a worksheet school officials handed out to the county commissioners.

When pressed by a Record & Landmark reporter, Iredell Statesville Superintendent Terry Holliday admitted that a new Mt. Mourne school would probably not be funded by the bonds that will be voted on October 11.

The second project listed on the ballot is “renovating and expanding N.B. Mills/Monticello Elementary School.” Even though it is listed on the ballot, school officials do not intend to spend any of the bond money at Monticello.

The current plan is to close Monticello and move its students to an expanded N.B. Mills. The official form filed with the LGC lists $8,367,927 for N.B. Mills Elementary, but does not list any money for Monticello Elementary.

Lake Norman High is listed further down the ballot. Earlier this year school officials had mobile units installed to house the overflow of students. (Informed sources say the school board could have remedied the overcrowding by adjusting attendance lines, but rejected that option.)

Both the official form the school system filed with the LGC and the worksheet handed to the county commissioners estimate the cost of the additions to Lake Norman High to be $4.86 million. The school systems will receive $43.3 million for building needs, financed by a COPS bond, whether or not the bond on the ballot is passed. The Iredell-Statesville system’s share will be $35 million.

Parents in the area are being told they must vote for the bond in order to replace the mobile units with permanent classrooms. But the above figures show such is not the case. The school system will have ample money to replace the mobile units at both Lake Norman High and at other schools regardless of whether the bond referendum is passed.

Even the liberal Record & Landmark, which supports the bond, ran an editorial that criticized the ballot wording. While the list of schools has little legal significance, observers note it serves an important political purpose. A parent who sees his or her child’s school on the ballot is more likely to vote in favor of the bond.

Mooresville Graded School District officials chose a more straightforward approach. The ballot says bonds for that district will be used for “erecting additional school buildings, remodeling, enlarging and reconstructing existing school buildings…”, but does not list any specific schools.