New E.E. Smith High School could be built on Fort Liberty golf course

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the change in status of Cumberland County Schools operations and the date of the board meeting due to inclement weather.

As Cumberland County Schools consider options for replacing the aging E.E. Smith High School, a Fort Liberty golf course has emerged as a potential site for a new facility. 

According to the agenda for the Cumberland County school board’s Tuesday meeting, the board will discuss whether to approve presenting the Stryker Golf Course at 1219 Bragg Blvd. as the future site of the new E.E. Smith High School. 

According to a Sept. 1 site evaluation report by Fayetteville-based Crawford Design Company, the golf course is one of three options for the new building. CityView previously reported that the school board recommended land at Honeycutt Road and Parham Boulevard by Texas Lake for the new school — property also owned by Fort Liberty. The new E.E. Smith would serve about 1,600 students, the report states. 

It is unclear whether the county would lease the 76-acre property from Fort Liberty or if the federal government would donate the land to the county, according to the evaluation report. The site had previously been designated by Fort Liberty as a potential location for a school, the report states.

Overall, the report recommended the Stryker Golf Course site as a future location for E.E. Smith. 

“The site has good street access although travel times would probably be extended due to the closure of Bragg Blvd through the military reservations,” the report says. 

Many factors in the development of the site, like sidewalk construction and N.C. Dept. of Transportation requirements, will depend on whether it remains Fort Liberty property or is given to Cumberland County, according to the report.

“If the property continues to be in Federal ownership, similar agreements allow the site to be developed in the general standards of the City while complying with certain Fort Liberty guidelines,” the report states. “[If] the property is turned over to County Ownership, it is assumed the site would fall under the Fayetteville Development Ordinance guidelines.” 

Other items of business include:

• The board will recognize Christopher Sunday, a fourth grader at Gallberry Farms Elementary School, who will serve as the Exceptional Children student representative at Tuesday’s meeting. 
• The board will recognize Cameron Bebeaux and Jayla Destiny Harper, the student ex-officio representatives at Tuesday’s meeting.
• The board will present the Committed Community Support award to Antonio Daniels and Lynn Blackshear-Ray with Living in Authority Ministries for their work with the Level Up Enrichment Program. 
• The board will present the Extra Mile award to Richard Grice, an employee with the school system’s Plant Operations Center.
• The board will consider awarding a bid to Heartland Solutions for new software for the school system’s child nutrition program. The software would cost $145,979 per year with a $73,604 implementation fee, according to a Dec. 18 memorandum to Associate Superintendent of Auxiliary Services Kevin Coleman.
• The board will consider three applications to the Public School Building Capital Fund, which is funded by the state’s Education Lottery. The applications are for $1.1 million in debt on school construction bonds in 2009; $813,800 in debt on school construction bonds in 2011; and $1.1 million in debt relating to projects at Gray’s Creek Middle School.
• The board will consider purchasing $91,042 in new switches for the school system’s computer infrastructure.
• The board will proclaim February as Kindness Awareness Month and Feb. 5-9 as National School Counseling Week.
• The board will go into closed session to discuss personnel issues and attorney-client privilege. 
• The board will nominate one of its members to serve on the North Carolina School Boards Association’s Legislative Committee.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Central Services Building. Cumberland County schools will have an asynchronous remote learning day Tuesday due to predicted heavy rains, high winds and potentially dangerous wind gusts. 

Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.