13-03-2025
$900,000 of lottery revenue helps High Point Central High School
HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — North Carolina lottery sales have reached record highs, touting a billion dollars for local schools in revenue from 2024 ticket sales.
In North Carolina, the NC Department of Public Instruction states that about 30 percent of lottery revenue goes toward education.
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They're using $900,000 of lottery revenue to improve High Point Central High School.
'Our needs are prioritized. We did a lot of that work during the 2019 master plan,' said Dr. Julius Monk, deputy superintendent of business and operations at Guilford County Schools.
Monk has been working to improve GCS since 2013, excluding a stint in Durham. It was a lot of his hard work that identified $2 billion in facility needs at GCS in 2019.
'For our major needs, we've dedicated about $500 million of our total $2 billion bond referendum,' Monk said.
HPCHS was slated as a priority renovation six years ago and estimated to cost about $49 million. The work is ongoing, with $900,000 in lottery revenue slated for HVAC repairs.
'You can only use it for those types of work. You can't pay off bond or debt service with it,' Monk said.
According to a Public Schools First graphic, 51 percent of the education revenue goes toward construction. From 2023 to 2024, $561 million went toward construction. Other pieces of the pie are support personnel, pre-K, scholarships and school transportation.
The breakdown is decided by the state and broken down into two pots. One is the capital replacement fund.
'It's based off of your average daily membership, so the larger your school system, the more funding you receive for capital replacements,' Monk said.
One is for the repair and renovation fund, which is being used to repair HPCHS.
'Each county receives $500,000. It doesn't matter how large your county is. Everybody receives the same amount each year,' he said.
You can save it up or mishmash it to get the work done, like on the chillers and pumps at HPCHS.
GCS received a total of $31.6 million in the fiscal year 2024 from lottery revenue.
The GCS budget last fiscal year was $998 million, meaning the lottery funded about 3.2 percent of their budget.
Every cent matters, as you can see at HPCHS.
'It is definitely time for us to continue to invest in those facilities so we can keep the doors open and keep our students in school and learning,' Monk said.
GCS has received about $496 million in lottery revenue in total since 2006.
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