EAST SPENCER — The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education moved to proceed with the purchase of land for a new elementary school Monday, and its members discussed the possibility of consolidating more schools.

The new western Rowan County elementary school would consolidate Woodleaf and Cleveland elementary schools due to the poor  condition of their buildings and low student capacity. In a closed session, the board moved to pay $10,350 per acre for a parcel of land located in the Woodleaf tax district at the intersection of N.C. 801 and Godbey Road.

The school is expected to open in December 2017.

Board member Travis Allen discussed taking school consolidation a step further.

“I think that we have about 10 schools too many,” he said.

Allen cited low capacity rates in rural schools, energy costs of heating old buildings, attendance shrinkage and the 1,802 empty seats the school system currently has. The current facilities, he said, were designed for the 1940s and ’50s — not a modern education system. He suggested closing down old, inefficient school buildings and consolidating student bodies into newer, more efficient schools that better fit capacity.

“You’re saving fortunes on closing old buildings,” Allen said.

If the board had a solid plan for consolidation, he said, they would likely be able to get some help from the county and be able to build new buildings relatively cheaply.

Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody acknowledged that the system may need more consolidation, but cautioned Allen to come up with a long-range plan before talking seriously about closing schools.

“It’s less stressful to the community when you have a long range plan,” she said.

People are less skittish if they know they have two or more years to prepare as opposed to immediate closings. She suggested Allen research school closing procedures and their effects on communities, and begin holding town meetings asking for community input.

“How does the community feel about closing two schools? Ten schools?” she asked.

It would also help, Moody said, to present the numbers and savings to the community, and she urged Allen not to name specific schools.

School board Chairman Josh Wagner expressed doubt that cold, hard facts would sway community members, and that having numbers would eliminate emotion.

“People aren’t stupid,” he said, “Just because you don’t say which school doesn’t mean they won’t think, ‘It’s going to be mine.’”

Board member Chuck Hughes said the board would get a lot of “flack” for talking about closing schools, but that the board was strong enough to do what was in the best interest of the county, and not be swayed by emotion.

Allen relented and said he would be open to spending the year conducting savings studies and listening to the community’s response to further consolidation.

The board moved to dispose of its South Long Street office by advertising for sealed bids after a closed session. Allen made the motion and Hughes seconded. It was unanimously approved.

While most of the discussion took place in closed session, the board aired out several questions during open session. The key was how to proceed.

Both the town of East Spencer and a charter school group have made formal requests for the building. Both were asked to present the board with proof of adequate financing for renovations that the building would require. However, Wagner said neither group responded to e-mails asking for updates. He expressed reluctance to give the property to a group only to have it fall into disrepair due to inadequate funding.

“I think that makes the system and the board look bad,” Wagner said.

Ken Soo, the board’s lawyer, said the board couldn’t give away the building anyway, unless it would be used specifically for educational purposes. It would be one thing if there was a charter school already in existence that they could donate the building to, but that was not the case.

Assistant Superintendent Anthony Vann said Rowan County commissioners had first right of refusal for the old office building, and had declined to take it.

The board discussed their options. Soo said the board needed to consider that the longer the school system kept the building, the more it would cost. Soo called the offices a “potential liability,” citing the presence of lead and other issues. The cost to upfit the building would be high, he said.

“We should begin by speculating, what would someone pay for this? It might not be more than zero,” Soo said.

Allen argued that the board should come up with an official policy on how to proceed with the disposal of a building.

“We have numerous buildings we’re going to get rid of in the future,” he said. He mentioned the Woodleaf and Cleveland elementary buildings, which will become vacant if consolidation plans succeed.

In other business:

• After a closed session the board moved to hire Robin Leslie as the system’s new chief financial officer.
• The board agreed to appropriate funds for line items left from its Dec. 14 meeting. The system will allot $67,500 for new hire bonuses in an effort to attract more teachers. The system expects to hire between 125 and 150 teachers before June, and will award new faculty with a $500 bonus. The board will appropriate an amount up to $10,000 to train its new chief financial officer, and appropriated $20,000 for a school equity study and $20,000 for a school efficiency study as long as the contractor could guarantee it would be recouped in savings.
• The board moved to take immediate action to make Rowan-Salisbury school facilities more energy efficient.
• A resolution to revert control of the school calendar to the local Board of Education passed.
• The board amended policies on nepotism, student transfers and early graduation requirements.