State school building tab: huge.

Byline: Todd Silberman

Apr. 6--State education leaders got a glimpse Wednesday of the same kind of big-dollar projections for school construction that have become old news in Wake County.

School systems statewide will face construction needs totaling nearly $10 billion over the next five years, according to the results of a survey presented to the State Board of Education. Enrollment statewide is expected to reach about 1.5 million by 2014, an increase of more than 200,000 students from 2005 levels.

But board members said they suspect the cost projection underestimates the real needs of the state's 115 school districts, many of which have been unable to keep up with building new schools and maintaining existing ones.

"This number is probably just a fraction of what is needed in that marketplace," said John Tate, a state board member from Charlotte, where the school leaders say $1 billion for construction is needed during the next five years.

Voters there defeated a $427 million bond measure in November. Since 2000-01, school districts have added 1,500 trailer classrooms to make room for more students. More than 7,000 trailers are being used statewide.

Proceeds from the new state lottery will help counties fund some school construction costs, but the biggest share will remain the responsibility of the counties. The lottery will raise an estimated $160.5 million a year for school construction, allocated to counties on the basis of a sliding scale that accounts for enrollment and local tax effort. Wake school leaders expect about $9 million of that, although the county's projected cost for school construction during the next four years tops $1 billion.