Lee County Schools improve from 5 low-performing schools to ZERO

The Lee County School Board celebrated being one of only 24 districts to have ZERO low-performing schools at the Sept. 8 meeting while it approved applying for a grant for a new middle school.

The district had five low-performing schools last year. Board members expressed gratitude for each teacher, bus driver, janitor, administrator and staff member for working to reach and teach all students.

“Zero is not our finish line. Zero is our new floor,” Chairperson Sherry Womack said about never going back to low-performance scores.

Read Editorial: NC School performance scores challenge income and location myths: 2025-26 tri-county report to view Lee County Schools’ and Moore and Harnett’s individual school grades.

New Business

The board approved applying for a 2026-27 Needs-Based Grant for a new middle school with capacity for 1,200 students.

The school would consolidate East Lee and West Lee middle schools into one facility while maintaining SanLee Middle School as the district’s second middle school. At nearly 50, East and West Lee will require increasing repair and maintenance investments.

The new school would replace two planned capital projects totaling about $30.1 million. It also would include a strong Career and Technical Education focus, giving students early exposure to career pathways aligned with Lee County’s workforce needs.

The maximum state grant for a new middle school is $52 million. Lee County would be responsible for a 5% local match and any costs exceeding the grant.

The concept was presented to the Board of Education’s Operations Committee Aug. 25. If approved by the Board of Education and Lee County Board of Commissioners, the application will be submitted by the Oct. 2 deadline.

The Operations Committee

As part of the Comprehensive Continuous Improvement Plan, the Operations Committee reviewed Title I, II, and III funds for economically disadvantaged students.

Member Alan Rummel said that the federal funds were down by about 35k from last year, because the population’s poverty rate decreased. The district will receive approximately $4.5 million.

The seven elementary schools, three middle schools and Bragg Street Academy receive Title I funds to hire intervention teachers, teachers to reduce class size, assistants, tutors, and supplies, including technology, to provide family engagement activities and professional development.

Title II funding supports the teacher mentor program, hiring teachers to reduce class size and for professional development.

English language instruction beyond what is offered in the regular curriculum and professional development related to teaching it receive Title III funds.

The arts, STEM programs, extended learning and student wellness receive Title IV funds.

The Migrant Education Program funds tutors and counseling for students whose parents have seasonal work.

Facility Needs, Overcapacity & City and County Teamwork

According to the operations committee, the State Board of Education requests that the board of education and the county commissioners certify the required 2030-31 long-range facility plans. The commissioners’ signatures do not mean they agree or approve, merely that they know the needs.

Contradictions exist within the Sanford Council considering school capacity when weighing annexation and development proposals.

On March 26, 2026, Freese and Nichols, a consulting group hired to help the Sanford Council make better decisions, advised the council to ensure infrastructure, including room for incoming students, was in place before approving project proposals.

But the advice was too late. On March 17, 2026, the city annexed 50.701 acres along Deep River Road for a proposed 202-home subdivision, and Deep River Elementary School was already overcapacity.

At the same March 26 Sanford Council meeting, Mayor Rebecca Salmon said if they created a policy to review proposed projects on infrastructure and services before projects reached the planning board, it might ease the imbalance problem.

At the Aug. 25 Sanford Council work session, when the growth consultant again told the council to consider whether approving a development project would negatively impact school capacity, Mayor Salmon shifted the responsibility, saying that an “open line of communication with the county and or the school district does not mean that we control decisions those boards make.”

However, the Sanford Council makes development proposal decisions, just like the county commissioners, that impact school capacity, while the school board has no control, except to inform the two boards of capacity levels.

Read the March article Sanford weighs growth tier map as solution to development imbalance

On May 12, the Lee County Board of Education approved a resolution urging county leaders to require school impact studies for major developments. The “Resolution on Responsible Growth and School Impact Mitigation” asks county leaders to mandate school impact analyses for major developments because of concerns about rapid growth straining schools and infrastructure.

The city and county have not adopted the resolution.

Read the May article Lee County School Board adopts development impact resolution.

Policies

At the recommendation of Attorney Rawson, the board rescinded two policies. effective immediately. The board will review other policies for similar language and restructure the other policies to meet state laws.

Policy 6402-Participation by Historically Underutilized Businesses

Policy 9125-Participation by Minority Businesses

State law had required the two policies to promote minority and underutilized businesses, but the General Assembly recently canceled the requirements.

The next school board meeting is Oct. 13.

Sept. 9, 2026

Stephanie M. Sellers

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