SALISBURY — Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education members briefed the county commissioners on the district’s $208 million repair list Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve had months of capital discussions,” board member Dean Hunter said.

Most recently, those discussions culminated in the creation of a capital needs committee, which presented a report to the board at its September business meeting.

Tuesday’s Joint Planning Committee meeting was to update commissioners on that presentation, as well as the capital needs committee in general.

The committee will give the board recommendations on how to solve not only a large capital needs budget but also other issues in the school system — such as more than 4,000 empty seats and declining enrollment.

The consensus, Hunter said, is that “we gotta do something.”

“I think everyone knows we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing,” he said.

Currently, the board has roughly $171 million in capital needs — down from an earlier amount of $208 million after county appropriations and community donations for specific projects.

Some of the capital needs committee’s general recommendations including replacing old facilities with new ones, consolidating undercapacity schools and adjusting district lines.

The board asked the committee to come up with more specific recommendations in time for its Nov. 27 business meeting.

County commissioners had several observations.

“You folks ran into the buzz-saw last time you talked about the word consolidation,” Commissioner Jim Greene said.

If, down the road, it is decided that consolidation is the answer, Greene said, it should be a grassroots effort. People need to understand that it is a necessity, he said.

“We can’t continue to make repairs to 100-year-old buildings and expect them to be anything like new schools. Have they mentioned that, or are they just going to let you be crucified?” Greene asked about the board’s committee.

Hunter said that when the committee was formed, board members invited community residents and leaders, as well as town mayors and aldermen, to be part of the process. But on average, Hunter said, only 15 to 20 of those invited attended.

“So this was a community idea,” he said. “It wasn’t us selecting school system employees.”

System employees simply answered questions or provided information as needed. However, Dean acknowledged that eventually the decision will fall to the board.

“I think, bottom line, we’d be fooling ourselves if we think it didn’t stop with us as a school board. … But it was our intention to get the community involved,” he said.

Coming up with a plan of action would be difficult with looming uncertainties about changing class size requirements, board Chairman Josh Wagner said.

“Until we get an absolute final answer from the state, … we have to kind of wait and see how it plays out,” he said.

County Manager Aaron Church said there is chatter in the community about a bond running out about 2021. According to rumor, it would free up roughly $60 million for the county.

Church said that figure is technically true but is based on a lot of assumptions. The county would only get $60 million if it didn’t incur any more debt in the next five years and if property values and sales tax distribution don’t change.

Rowan-Salisbury Superintendent Lynn Moody pointed out that even if the county has a free debt service of $60 million, much of that money would likely go to a promised new building for Knox Middle School — a project the county and Board of Education agreed on in years past.

“And that’s just one school out of 35,” Moody said. “… And that school probably should been built five years ago not five years in the future. … I think we all know we can’t wait five years to talk about some of those things. And it’s just discouraging, for all of us.”

Commissioner Mike Caskey asked if the board could whittle down its capital needs budget to “manageable chunks.” If it did that, the county might be able to address some smaller issues and projects over the coming years.

“I think everyone agrees that something needs to be done,” he said. “… From a psychological standpoint, I think we’ll all feel better if we’re working on something rather than just sitting here and waiting.”

The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education will hold only one meeting in November — a business meeting Nov. 27. The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. in the Wallace Educational Board Room, 500 N. Main St., with a closed session. Celebrations will be at 5 p.m. and public comment, at 6 p.m.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.