Harnett approves $90M grant bid for new Career & Technical High School

Harnett commissioners approved the school board’s request to apply for a $90 million needs-based grant at the Sep. 30 work session for the Harnett Career and Technical Education High School (CTE).

The 109,776 square-foot building will be behind Central Carolina Community College’s main classrooms on the Harnett campus and serve up to 530 students.

If the grant is awarded, Harnett County will cover $28 million, and the state will cover the remaining $62 million.

“We need trades people badly,” Commissioner Duncan Edward Jaggers said.

The needs-based grant, if approved, would meet growing population demands on health and public safety, construction trades, IT and advanced manufacturing.

Relocating the honors-level CTE from existing high schools will partially relieve crowded conditions and produce confident graduates prepared to contribute to society.

The board moved several items to the next meeting’s consent agenda:

The tax department will write off the 2015 delinquent taxes for real and personal property totaling $26, 435.47, as allowed by state law on the statute of limitations.

The board will consent to a memorandum of understanding to be a regional partner with Cumberland County for potable water from their planned water treatment plant to be constructed in Erwin.

Axon Enterprise, Inc will supply body cameras for the sheriff’s department’s detention center. The five-year contract requires an initial cost of $73,444.99 (funded by the Asset Forfeiture Fund), and the four-year payments will be about $39,326.24, funded by the detention center’s yearly budget.

Presentation

President of Cape Fear Valley Hospital Michael Tart presented a healthcare update from 2024, reflecting the following data:

There are 90 physician offices in Harnett.

Between Betsy Johnson and Central Harnett Hospitals, there were 46k visits.

The county is expecting 4,800 admissions this year.

Surgery is only at Betsy Johnson, and cardiac catheterizations are at Central Harnett.

In 2024, they completed 62k radiograph studies.

Harnett Health Care serves Campbell University medical students in residency. The county retains 50% of residents after they graduate, indicating the county is providing quality services.

The 66k square foot Health Pavilion at Central Harnett was completed in Oct. 2024, and it opened a cancer center, treating dozens of citizens. In Dec. 2024, it opened the second floor, and it has eight specialty clinics.

Feb. 2024, they began construction on an adolescent psychiatric unit with 60 beds at Central Harnett. It received over eight million in grant funding. The unit hired its first child psychologist this month.

Betsy Johnson has new robotics for orthopedic care.

“We are constantly recruiting for providers. Added a second oncologist; hired Dr. Debra Moore, first urologist in eight years…Still recruiting cardiologists,” Tart said.

Labor and delivery services closed in 2023 due to lack of use and liabilities. The emergency room handles some deliveries, but most are transported to Cape Fear Valley Hospital.

“My phone has rung over and over about this,” Vice Chair William Morris said.

“We’re looking to return these services and to include pediatrics to attract citizens because frequency breeds proficiency, especially in labor and delivery,” Tart said.

Oct. 1, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers

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