Hobbton receives $62M grant

It was a joy-filled day for Sampson County Schools Monday, as Superintendent Dr. Jamie King and Board of Education member Eleanor Bradshaw made a surprise announcement in a staff meeting at Hobbton Middle School — the system had just been notified they would receive a $62 million Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund (NBPSCF) grant to build a new high school.

“The school year is about to get even better, because Hobbton High School is getting a new building,” said Bradshaw as she opened the meeting, eliciting cheers and high fives from the staff members in attendance.

Monday’s celebration culminates a months-long effort by the school system to receive a needs grant to fund construction of a new high school. The first application, submitted in January, was denied, despite backing from Hobbton district leaders and county officials, and county commissioner approval of roughly $4.2 million in county money that would go toward the project.

The current Hobbton High School, built in 1957, has, supporters and school officials said, a deteriorated infrastructure deteriorated, crowded classrooms and poorly lit, dark hallways. And, they stressed, inadequate facilities hinder effective learning and limit extracurricular and academic opportunities.

Plans for the new high school include a 117,000-square-foot building, which in today’s terms, costs $67.4 million to build. There is a local match of $4,228,314 to go towards the construction, plus a sales tax refund of almost $1.2 million. Included in these costs is the price of demolishing the current school, leaders said earlier this year.

A rush to build has been key since construction costs have risen drastically since 2015, when this project was first put on the table for discussion. According to King, the cost was $28.4 million to build a new school in 2015, $49 million in 2018, and the trajectory would see the county paying more than $100 million in 2028.

“As a district, we meet six of the seven priorities, so I feel really good about our chances,” King said about the grant earlier this year during the first submission process. He continued to feel that way in September when the application was re-submitted.

As part of the application process, Hobbton needed to re-evaluate their priorities, including eliminating plans for a new football field, soccer field and track as part of the project, in order to “strengthen” their application.

A board meeting that took place in late August had architect Robbie Ferris deliver this news, where he gave professional recommendations on how to get the grant approved. At this meeting, it was noted that the project costs had risen once again, marking it $4.4 million over budget, as the total cost had shot up to $75 million, and the grant was only good for $62 million of that. If they stayed over their budget and kept everything as-is, that would result in a higher chance of being denied once more.

Ferris noted that the $2.8 million set aside in the budget for the fields and track would still be designed by his firm, but building would not proceed unless the bids for the construction came in under the budgeted amount, or there was funding made available for them.

The current plan is to build across the street from the existing Hobbton High School, and with the budget cuts, that means the existing auditorium and greenhouses will still need to be used.

Monday’s surprise announcement brought euphoria from those in attendance, all who celebrated the good news.

No one was happier than King.

“We won’t start construction tomorrow,” he said to the gathered staff. “But what I can tell you is that we will make sure that we build a school that will meet the needs of students 20 years from now. We will take our time making sure that we make the best possible decisions. We will visit other newly constructed schools to glean from them the best design ideas. We want to make sure that we get it right from the beginning.”

The North Carolina State Lottery’s Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund (NBPSCF) provides grants to North Carolina school districts for critical facility needs. The grants are intended to help economically distressed counties with school building capital needs.

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, since its inception, the NBPSCF has awarded nearly $2 billion dollars to local school districts, providing funding for new construction projects and the replacement of existing schools.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ms. Catherine Truitt, said the needs-based grants are a key support for districts where local tax resources fall short of needs for modernizing or replacing aging school facilities.

“Just as all students in North Carolina need an excellent teacher in every classroom,” she said, “students and teachers need high quality schools in good repair that help support learning. These needs-based grants are an important boost for many districts and communities – and most importantly, their students.”

Once ground is broken, construction is expected to take 18-24 months to complete.