While Wake County Board of Education and Town of Cary officials work out the financial details of road improvements on N.C. 55 in a lean fiscal year, some Panther Creek High School students still attend classes in the media center. Two out of three modular units on site at Panther Creek stand ready for occupancy, but the $1.4 million road improvements stipulated by the Town of Cary remain a sticking point.

School board members voted 5-4 on Feb. 3 to offer a compromise: Wake County Public Schools would pay slightly over half the projected cost, up to $750,000.

Although board members had the same goal - students using the modular units - they had differing reasons for their votes. Patti Head, who voted for the reduced offer said, "We have to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money."

The fact that the road improvements are not to McCrimmon Parkway, the road the school faces, but on N.C. 55, nearly half a mile away, impacted Head's decision. "The kids have to be at school by 7 a.m. and get out in the afternoon . is that really peak time?" she said.

The Town of Cary's traffic study cited increased numbers of cars on N.C. 55, requiring an additional lane from McCrimmon Parkway to I-540.

The Town of Cary requires developers to make road improvements when their work impacts traffic. "I have problems thinking of us as a traditional developer," Head said. "I'm biased, but I think we should be in a separate category. We are a service to the kids who are there and who are coming [in the future]."

Head balked at using school bond money to improve the road. "I'm not sure the voters who voted for the bond thought we were paying for roads," Head said. She said she is thinking long-term, and because she believes Wake County will boom again after the economy picks up, she doesn't want an influx of new families to put the school system in a bind. "Are we going to be right back where we were before?" she said.

Eleanor Goettee voted no to the $750,000. "I believe we should pay the $1.4 million to get the students out of the media center and into the mobile units," she said. "The students and staff are bearing the impact of this. We need to get the road built so we can move forward."

Goettee said she realizes the significance of the full amount. "One point four million is a lot in a lean year, but we need to look past fault or responsibility and get it done," she said.

Tim Bailey, the Town of Cary's director of engineering, said the site plan for the modular units was not yet approved by the town. "So far, we have received no request in writing" about how much the school board is willing to pay or when, said Bailey. "Once an agreement is reached, the schools have 36 months to start the road construction and 48 months to complete it. But we have no commitment to meet that."

Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said the town has the paperwork ready for the moment a binding agreement is signed.

Goettee said it was embarrassing for people to drive by and see the modular units on site but not being used. "I'll be so glad when we can put a period at the end of this," she said.