Thursday night, Durham Public Schools brass said they may have to cut 226 teaching jobs to meet the 2009-'10 budget.
Monday night, they're going to the county commissioners for $2.9 million for two new schools.
Not schizophrenic, just ironic. The working money comes from mainly from state and county appropriations. The money for school constructon comes from a bond issue voters approved in 2003. By law, the bond money can't be used for anything but what the voters voted for.
DPS wants the money for 47 acres on Scott King Road, just north of the Chatham County line, where it proposes to build an elementary school and a middle school. This is the same request the commissioners sent back to the drawing board in March, after voicing unease with potential traffic, environmental effects and the purchase price.
According to the school system, the land's value is $3.1 million. Its assessed value is about $860,000. Part of it is within a designated "natural heritage area" on the 1999 Durham County Inventory of Important Natural Areas, Plants and Wildlife.
