School board votes for $1.4M in road work around Panther Creek

Raleigh, N.C. — The Wake County schools Tuesday agreed to pay $1.4 million for required road improvements around Panther Creek High School in Cary, where modular classrooms will increase student capacity and therefore traffic.

Cary's Town Council had asked the school system to pay the money to widen part of N.C. Highway 55 near the school, where the district wants to use three modular units to provide 22 extra classrooms.

The school board approved the payment.

The school is more than 500 students over its 1,663-student capacity, and since the fall, students have been attending classes in the school library and cafeteria and other alternatives to classrooms.

It's unclear when the modular units will open.

The decision ends an impasse between the school system and the Town Council. Each wanted the other to pay for the improvements, and each argued it did not have the money.

Cary leaders said they were not willing to pay for any of the road improvements, partly because of a tight budget and partly because the town has donated $64 million to the school system since 2000 in cash, land and infrastructure improvements.