The Moore County Board of Education Construction and Maintenance Committee set a timeline for presenting high school improvement plans at its March 26 meeting.

The committee will meet in two weeks with pro and con lists, approximate costs of each of the four options presented by Assistant Superintendent for Operations Jenny Purvis, and take a proposal to the school board in May, hold a public hearing, and present a recommendation to the county commissioners in June.

Option 1. Expand, modernize and renovate both Pinecrest and Union Pines to include expanding the core of each to allow for future growth, expanding the core to hold 2600 students at Pinecrest and 1750 at Union Pines.

Option 2. Build a new 1700-core high school, which would place high school capacity at 89% in 10 years.

Option 3. Modernize and renovate Union Pines to 1400 students and build a new high school with a core of 1700.

Option 4. Build a new high school with a capacity of 1400 students. Pinecrest would be a renovation only, with the enrollment capacity staying at 1650. But Union Pines would have a renovation and a bit of an addition to increase enrollment capacity to 1500.

The committee discussed option four at length, saying Union Pines’ land allowed for ease of expansion; however, core expansions can be as expensive as building new.

“The fourth option programmatically creates consistency across the three high schools. We’re talking athletics, arts, the academic courses, and the number of students you have in the school, and advanced placement classes,” Committee Member David Hensley said in his recommendation for uniformity.

An architect has not been secured. Purvis said the 2015 high school architectural plans did not meet capacity requirements, but the committee can use the plans as a prototype for design plans and costs; however, they must consider the inflation rate and the required capacity in modifications.

A new high school requires new school reassignments, and the committee said it would honor sibling rules and those grandfathered into high schools they currently attend.

Rhoades & Co. Real Estate, in Southern Pines, co-owner, Tim Venjohn, found three land options for Carthage Elementary School, and the committee will evaluate the options before making recommendations.

Moore County Schools Superintendent Tim Locklair said they had not used lottery funds since 2018, and Purvis said they had $5,634,196 in capital funds for beginning projects.

A brief discussion on applying for grants from the Convention and Visitors Bureau formulated ideas on increasing tourism to the county, with lighting for auditoriums for concerts and lighting and turf for athletic fields to host statewide tournaments. They will discuss ideas with the board and add public input to strengthen grant requests from the CVB.

The committee recommended reviewing enrollment numbers for all schools, elementary, middle, and high schools, at the next board of education meeting to help decide which project to begin next.

Feature photo: Superintendent of Moore County Schools Dr. Tim Locklair and member David Hensley discuss high school capacity at the March 26, 2025, construction and maintenance committee meeting.

~Article and photo by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She is the author of young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, and a new science fiction published by Golden Storyline Books, Amagi.

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