Moore County citizens push back against New Carthage Elementary School “NEAR” Town

Concerned citizens met Oct. 1 to discuss the school board’s choice for a new Carthage Elementary School (CES) “near” Carthage. The meeting took place on private property neighboring the proposed new school building — in the county.

Neighbors of Moore County School’s 32-acre parcel purchase in progress own multi-generational farms of 10 to 160-acre tracts. Some adjoin the parcel, and some are Century Farms, exactly what the new Land Use Plans (LUP) (effective in late Oct.) charge to protect and preserve.

Yet, Moore County Schools is in the due diligence period to purchase Parcel 00004252, which is about 32 acres north of the intersection of Joel Road and Vass-Carthage Road, outside of the extraterritorial jurisdiction, for the new CES when it is supposed to be within city limits.

The land is a Century Farm and has not been logged in over a hundred years. It has been in the McDonald family for generations.

Worth McDonald (92), who lives in Raleigh and is selling 32 acres with Allison McDonald (62), asked the school board to cut out four acres to preserve a piece as family heritage farmland, and the survey shows they were awarded four acres of wetland, as seen in the photo.

The 32 acres is mostly wooded with slopes and sandy soil.

Worth McDonald and Allison McDonald, also in Raleigh, may not be aware that selling their land while it is under an active forestry plan means breaking the contract, and they will lose tax breaks and must pay three years of property taxes in full.

Issues creep past individual concerns into the public safety realm. There is a deep private pond within six feet of the property line on a farm, and many other farm ponds are nearby.

In the image below, look down past the length of the dam. The school board’s land purchase in progress for CES is only six feet on the other side of the dam where the red “x” is marked.

Across the street from the 32 acres is Hall’s Auto with leaky gas tanks. Read details here.

Slow-moving tractors and farm equipment travel the Vass-Carthage Road, clogging traffic. Traffic problems multiply when factoring in school traffic because it is the only open road between Carthage and Vass, slowing commutes, especially to Fort Bragg.

Mix slow traffic with time deadlines and passing cars for a wreck recipe.

Many attendees of the Oct. 1 meeting attended CES as youngsters, and some taught school and retired from CES.

A Town of Carthage resident attended and with tears in her eyes said she could not imagine her young grandson on a bus traveling all the way to the county for school.

“We want a new school, but this is the wrong place,” neighboring property owner and relative of the McDonald’s Hammond Bennett said.

Moore County Commissioner Tom Adams attended the Oct. 1 meeting and said his father was a school superintendent, providing a deep understanding of the demands and responsibilities of the position.

Details on Location

The school board’s mission, according to Adams, was to relocate CES in Carthage, not near Carthage. As a result, the school board conducting due diligence to the tune of about $23,000 (non-refundable tax dollars) on the $465,000 offer for the most well-preserved Century Farm in Moore County upset commissioners, parents of CES students and neighboring landowners.

“Commissioners do not like surprises. No one on the school board contacted any commissioners about land near Carthage,” Adams said.

Moore County will officiate the new LUPs at the end of Oct., which clearly discourage development in RA-zoned properties. They want to preserve the rural ambiance of highways and byways.

Commissioners also want to preserve the tradition of walking to and from school.

A common consensus of the Oct. 1 meeting’s attendees was that the timing of the land purchase and new LUPs finalization seemed too coincidental, and some feared the school board was going to try to slip the county land purchase in as a time is of the essence demand for meeting capacity with their request for building funds to the commissioners before the LUPs are finalized.

Adams wrote in an email that, whether the LUPs were final or not, the commissioners want CES in Carthage.

The school board is allowed to purchase property on its own, without the consent of county commissioners, and RA-zoned properties may have schools, and that fact is not appealable.

The bottom line is the school board must deliver a proposal for a new CES within Carthage town limits. The commissioners will then approve of funding the $35-million school through a bond issue financed by taxes.

Real Costs and Overlooked Prime Location

The second most upsetting fact was the parcel does not have sewer, and it will cost around $3 to $4.5 million to install lines roadside, and that does not include road crossing repairs or possible lift stations or possible easement fees.

The Vass-Carthage Road parcel has water access within 700 feet, so its cost is not a large hurdle.

The cost of sewer negates the economic value of choosing rural land under half a million for CES because it increases the cost of the land.

For long sewer line installations, counties or towns conduct feasibility studies, consider forming developer districts or special assessments, and may fund lines through capital projects with grants.

Whether the school board pays for sewer installation or uses a grant, sewer in RA opens opportunities for development in the Century Farm district and opens the likelihood of the Town of Carthage annexing farms into town limits, killing the new LUP mission.

The purchase of this parcel is unfortunate because an ideal location with 30 acres and a willing seller is directly across from the existing CES and is for sale at $2 million. It connects to Rockingham Street and has water, sewer and has already been surveyed.

The School Board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting on Mar. 26, 2025, discussed the land search by Tim Venjohn with Rhoades & Co. Real Estate. The committee said he had looked at several properties.

The school board has not answered requests for land-purchase details because N.C. General Statute 143-318.11 (4) allows school boards to operate in closed sessions for the purchase of real estate.

News agencies, however, may share information on real estate transactions when that information was obtained from private citizens, such as neighboring landowners, which was the case for the CES land deal.

The next school board meeting is Oct. 6, for a work session, and they typically do not have a public comments period. At the time of publishing this article, the agenda was not live, but the meeting notice had been emailed.

The Oct. 13 meeting is an agenda meeting and has a public comment period.

See the Moore County Schools’ public comment procedures below.

This is an ongoing story with a petition in progress.

Oct. 2, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers

Submit news tips and interview requests to editor@sandhills.news.

PUBLIC COMMENT INSTRUCTIONS

Board of Education Regular Business Meeting

The Board appreciates the public sharing its views, concerns and commendations, and the

members will be listening carefully. The purpose of public address is for the Board to hear from members of the public. By policy, the Board will not respond to speakers during the meeting.

Matters of concern may be referred to a Board committee, the administration, or held over for further discussion at a subsequent meeting. The Superintendent will follow up with individuals as appropriate.

● Speakers may only provide public comment in person.

● A sign-up sheet for members of the public who wish to speak in person will be available

from 4:45 to 5:25 p.m. on the day of the meeting at the location of the meeting.

● Speakers who sign up to address the Board will be called up in order in which they

signed up.

● Complaints about school personnel are usually most effectively addressed with the

Administration at the school or Central Office levels, or through other existing Board

policies, and those alternatives are encouraged by the Board.

● The Board appreciates courteous and respectful presentations. Obscene, vulgar,

indecent, abusive, threatening, or profane statements or statements reasonably

perceived to be disruptive or imminently threatening to the orderly operation of the

meeting shall not be permitted.

● Time is limited to 3 minutes per individual speaker. A clock is displayed on the screen to

allow the speaker to know when his/her time is up. The speaker is expected to stop

when the countdown is complete.

● Substitute speakers will not be permitted, and speakers may not donate any portion of

their time to another speaker. Recorded comments or reading comments of other

individuals are not permitted.

● If the speaker has printed information to share with Board members, the items should

be handed to the Executive Assistant to the Superintendent and Board of Education,

Cindy Parker, who will be responsible for distribution.

● The Board will allow for a total of two hours of in-person public comment but may

reduce the time if necessary to cover other agenda items. If speakers cannot be

accommodated due to time constraints, then the Board may reduce the time allotted per

speaker and/or defer speakers to the top of the list at the next regular Board meeting.

● All comments must be respectful and civil per ordinary rules of order and decorum.

● Any person who fails to comply with these guidelines or causes substantial or continued

disruption to the orderly conduct of the Board of Education’s business will be removed.

Failure to vacate the meeting after being directed is a criminal offense in violation of

N.C. Gen. Stat §14-288.4 and §143-318.17.