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RALEIGH Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Heath Morrison and school board member Tim Morgan lobbied Tuesday against a bill that would let counties take over school buildings and construction.
The bill, introduced this month, would allow county commissioners to take over construction, ownership and maintenance of school buildings.
“We have some concerns with the way it is currently written and the way it would impact our 143,000 students,” said Morgan.
Morrison said the bill would “create additional bureaucracy.”
The two met with House Speaker Thom Tillis of Cornelius and other lawmakers in their effort to fight the bill.
Their visit to the state capitol came a day after CMS board Chair Mary McCray spoke out against the bill at a news conference.
Sen. Jeff Tarte, a Cornelius Republican, co-sponsored the bill. He said the point is to put management of building construction under the same authority responsible for financing it.
Counties currently finance school construction.
“It’s not really an education bill, it’s a finance bill,” Tarte said. “The prime issue is where should the assets reside? … The asset should reside with the debt.”
