Bladen County Schools awarded state grant, can build new school at Tar Heel

TAR HEEL — Bladen County Schools are ready to move forward with building a new school here.

A grant request from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund was approved for $15 million by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. A local match is required, $1 for $3 in grant funds for Tier 1 counties and dollar for dollar in Tier 2. Bladen County is Tier 1.

The county commissioners offered their support for the grant request. With the $7 million it supplies, the district is in position for a $22 million project. The project does not have to be exactly $22 million; however, the grant package is capped at $15 million and local entities would supply any difference.

The new school would serve pre-kindergarten through eighth grades for students in the enrollment areas for Plain View Elementary and Tar Heel Middle.

Applications were reviewed based on priorities provided in the law, which includes ability to generate revenue, high debt-to-tax revenue ratio, and the extent a project addresses critical deficiencies serving current and future students.

The fund was created by the Republican-led General Assembly in 2016 to help construct schools in economically distressed counties using money from the N.C. Education Lottery. This year’s awards raise the total that has helped build or replace schools to $302 million.

Plain View Primary, at 1963 Chicken Foot Road, has grades PreK through fourth. Tar Heel Middle, at 14888 N.C. 87, houses grades 5-8.

The district did not send out information on winning the grant, opting instead to make note of it on its website.

Russell Worley, the maintenance director for the district, said in the district update that work would begin immediately to identify an architect and release a request for quotes. He said he hoped to know the architect by March.

Bladen County Schools in June will make the final payments on East Bladen High School and West Bladen High School. The retirement of that debt led to the decision to request the grant funds for a new school at Tar Heel.