Onslow County Schools received a $5 million boost from the county Tuesday to help keep work to repair storm-damaged schools moving forward but much more is needed.

The Onslow County Board of Commissioners approved the $5 million commitment for school repair needs Tuesday during an emergency meeting so that work can continue as county and school officials pursue options for covering shortterm expenses due to damage from Hurricane Florence.

Onslow County Schools Superintendent Rick Stout told commissioners that funding is needed now to "bridge the gap" until other funding sources come through, including FEMA assistance, insurance claims, and state special appropriations. On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday directed $25 million from the North Carolina Education Lottery Fund to speed up repairs to public schools damaged by Hurricane Florence. It was not immediately clear how much of that would go to each school system impacted.

Onslow County Schools has estimated the cost of Hurricane Florence damage at $125 million overall based on what they know now, and presented information at the meeting showing shortterm needs at $51.7 million.

Of the short-term need, mitigation services is projected at $37.8 million.

Stout said the school district has depleted its available funding for the work that needs to be done and the county is the school district’s only source of immediate funding.

"I’m sitting here broke," Stout said. ". . .We’ve got to do something to get kids back in school. We’ve got a gap to figure out."

After more than an hour of discussion, the Board of Commissioners approved the $5 million commitment, the maximum amount of funds the county had available in its fund balance, to help the school system keep the contractor at work while the county and school officials explore other funding options.

Beyond that, the county doesn’t have the cash available in the budget to provide any more immediate funding without putting the county at financial risk.

"We just don’t have that amount of cash on hand," said County Manager David Cotton.

Cotton said they explored a number of options but found they either wouldn’t be possible or are not fiscally sound.

"It’s a question of finding the money," said Commissioner Robin Knapp.

Commissioner Royce Bennett made the motion for the $5 million commitment, which will be reimbursed if not needed, and to give the staff the OK to talk with the Local Government Commission about a line of credit for ensuring the school district is covered for the short term expenses.

Stout said they are currently paying about $500,000 to $700,000 a dayfortheworkunderway.

Bennett said $5 million will only cover about a week’s worth of work and but it gives them time to talk to the LGC about options they may have for borrowing or a line of credit.

At an emergency meeting that immediately followed the county meeting, the Onslow County Board of Education gave Stout authority to work with county officials on funding to meet the immediate needs to repair schools due to damage from Hurricane Florence.

Stout said they are working to get students back in school as quickly as possible but want to ensure the air quality at the facilities is good as well as structurally safe for students and staff.

While a final plan is still being worked on, Stout said the goal is to have students back in class by Thursday, Oct. 18 or Monday, Oct. 22. Depending on the progress in the repair work, Stout said they may have some schools not fully ready to open, in which case they are exploring options for where and how to temporarily adjust schedules and class space for students.

Reporter Jannette Pippin can be reached at

910-382-2557 or Jannette Pippin@JDNews.com