Our kids can’t wait: Vote ‘Yes’ on CMS bond referendum

Mecklenburg County is experiencing incredible population growth – up 21.6% over the last decade.  The secret is out – this is a great place to live, work, and play. As longtime members of this community, we know that the region’s population growth will lead to economic growth – more job opportunities, reduced unemployment, increased income levels, and a higher standard of living.

But this growth also puts stress on our public infrastructure to keep up with the increased demand; especially, our schools.

We know that one thing everyone in our community agrees on is that for Mecklenburg County to be successful and grow, we need a strong public school system. Unfortunately, our community has not kept pace with the infrastructure we need to have the strongest possible local public school system.  

There are two main areas we’ve neglected and need to address. First, many schools in our historically Black and Hispanic neighborhoods are outdated and don’t meet modern safety standards, making it hard for minority students to have an equal opportunity to learn. We know a healthy learning environment is critical for students.

School should be an environment that gives children security and inspires them to learn. Voting Yes for the school bonds will replace outdated and unsafe schools with modern, state-of-the-art schools with innovative security features that will help keep our students safe and give them the opportunity to learn in facilities they deserve.

Second, schools in Mecklenburg County's fast-growing suburban neighborhoods are overcrowded, and overcrowded schools create learning challenges for students.

The bond proposal addresses both problems. Passing this bond will allow new schools to be built in fast-growing, overcrowded areas, and would fund modern, safe, new schools in our core neighborhoods. In fact, passing this bond will fund 30 modern, state-of-the-art new schools in diverse communities across the county. You can see all the projects by visiting voteyesforbonds.com/projects.  

Finally, a word on the cost of the bond.  We have all seen the impact inflation and rising interest rates have had on our family budgets over the last few years.  And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction costs have risen by over 30% since the 2020 COVID epidemic. Kicking the can down the road on building new schools will just make fixing the problem more expensive in the future. 

 
Mecklenburg County has the highest credit rating (AAA) a county can be awarded.  The county’s pristine credit rating allows our community to secure the lowest possible interest rates on bonds. And it is important to remember that bonds aren’t all issued when they’re passed by voters. This bond issuance will be phased over a five-year period, likely under lower interest rates than we see today. The bottom line: it will be less expensive to address our school building needs today than at any time in the future.

A strong public school system is the key to Mecklenburg County’s future. Passing this school bond will allow modern, new schools to be built in fast-growing, overcrowded parts of the county and allow outdated schools in our neighborhoods to be renovated or replaced with safe, state-of-the-art new schools.  Please join us and Vote Yes for Bonds, it is the right thing to do for our community.

Mary McCray is former CMS board chair and longtime educator; Ralph Lopez Massas is senior vice president at American Airlines and David Longo is chairman and CEO of CBI Workplace Solutions.

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