Members of the Fayetteville community want to make their historically Black high school bigger and better. The school has been in the area since 1953 and advocates are asking for the Cumberland County Schools to improve the facility.
The history of E.E. Smith High school stretches way beyond the current building on Seabrook Road. It's one of the few high schools in the country to have a world-wide alumni association.
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"This school is about the business of teaching, learning and creating students that's going to become leaders of tomorrow," said Donell Underdue, principal of E.E. Smith High School.
The principal said the school’s technology and curriculum have outgrown this building. The school's STEM program includes drones, robotics and flight simulators, but the 900 students are crunched in a building that's not kept up with its growing population.
"We're only situated on 27 and a half acres of land," Underdue explained. "You look at a comprehensive high school in this market is going to take about take about 60 to 80 acres."
The Cumberland County School system formed a committee to look into building a new school. But officials say that the cost to build the new school has skyrocketed in the post-pandemic economy.
Initially, school officials said it was going to cost around $83 million to build a new high school. Now, according to Associate Superintendent of Auxiliary Services Joe Desormaux, it will cost closer to $90 million now.
Cumberland County school officials said in a board meeting on Feb. 1 that they were still looking into ways to get funding for the school. Until they can get the proper funding, the school will not be able to secure a site for the school or hire an architect.
Desormaux mentioned several possible funding sources in the Feb. 1 meeting, including funding from the Department of Defense, the school system's fund balance and funds from the county.