Bid Awarded For New $5.6 Million SSS Auxiliary Gym

SMITHFIELD – The Johnston County Public Schools Board has awarded a $5,629,213 bid for construction of a new auxiliary gym at Smithfield Selma High School.

Brooks Moore, Chief of Facilities and Construction, said during the March 14 school board meeting, SSS is one of the last schools without an adjacent auxiliary gym, sufficient weight room and football team locker room.

Daniels and Daniels Construction of Goldsboro was the lowest of three bidders on the project. The new auxiliary gym will be paid for with funds from the 2018 school bond referendum, approved by voters.

13 COMMENTS

  1. Good for SSS. It’s about time they get what everyone else has. Too bad it took 5 years for the county to actually do it. I was beginning to think the county didn’t care about SSS… even though I still do.

  2. Brooks Moore I’m a big supporter of yours but this right here is a waste of money . As a faculty member I have to ask you did you really walk through the school and see anything wrong with the inside I think you did not. You really got this approved when we have tons of issues in the school . Did you every thing about instead of spending that much on a new building you could have spent half of it to expand what we have and uplift it The rest could have been spent on new fields like every other school will be getting But I guess that since we are getting a unnecessary building everything will be put on hold. New turf field would be nice being that our AD does not keep the field up and they’re looking like a cow pasture.

  3. Gotta keep the football team happy! That’s the main requirement of SSS, right? We need to get rid of the public education system and let parents be responsible for educating their own children!

    • Might want to do something for the football team after they let nc coach of the year go. What better coach out there to put in that position than someone who broke records the last 2 years That school looks decent on the outside but is aged out on the inside. Take a tour through it The new building is definitely needed but others things are a bigger need right now there.

      • @Smh: Why do we need football teams at all? Anything beyond the 3 Rs is a waste that detracts from the true mission of “public” education. Personally, I think we should eliminate ALL public schools, and use vouchers to let parents educate their children as they see fit. Unfortunately, the false conservatives are just Socialists in disguise and want to retain our “public” education system. #VoteOutIncumbents

  4. Why can’t they use SRAC facilities that are right next door? I truly don’t know the answer if it’s even feasible.

  5. @tell the truth, my child plays on that football team and it is not like that actually very much the opposite the football team had to have fund raisers to get money for things like New Jerseys or even snacks for the athletes. Now i don’t complain much but last year the team went 10-1 in the regular season and was told that have to earn the logo on the field. Just some examples so please dig a little deeper before we talk about things we talk about.especially when on Friday nights at home games there was always more people on the away side. Let’s stop talking so much and be the change we want to see.

    • @Concerned: Explain to me how football educates children? If parents want to use their OWN money to fund extracurricular activities (which, by definition are things OUTSIDE the standard curriculum), that’s fine. But let’s stop wasting PUBLIC funds on nonsense!!!! Next, you’ll want to fund CRT nonsense!!!!

  6. Now they need to replace the stands on the home side of the football field. They look to be from the 60’s.(with no safe exit other than the ends) And some other high school stands in the county looks like a professional football field.

  7. I don’t even know where to start with these comments lol.

    First of all “Politics”, if you work at a school you should know Brooks Moore doesn’t decide where the money goes. Second, a new gym and wt room etc is FAR more valuable than a turf field. But yes, once one school got one, they’ll all get one eventually. A new gym is not even CLOSE to useless.

    Some of the issues a new gym will help with :Having to go all the way to the SRAC, lift in a tiny weight room that you can only get to in certain hours, having to monitor behavior of kids walking they far from the main building and interacting with citizens, only being able to use the SRAC for certain hours practices etc etc when EVERY OTHER COUNTY SCHOOL has two gyms. Not to mention how late at night practices must run, causing issues with transportation, monitoring kids after school, and being at school very late which affects academics.

    Building a gym is a tremendous use of money, and it’s money from the bond. Not random money that can be used just anywhere.

    Jen R- they DO use the SRAC, but as I said, every other school has two gyms and there are bunches of logistical problems.

    “Tell the Truth”- you’re obviously a person who isn’t going to be convinced no matter what, as your thinking is so far out there, but do you know the incredible increase we’d have in dropout rates, behavior problems, academic issues and attendance without athletics? Athletics is one of the most beneficial things a kid can do, it aids them academically, socially and physically.

    And sure, let’s do away with public schools lol. It’s in our state constitution. And if we did away with em, those kids are going somewhere. Then all those wonderful schools you think you could use vouchers for- they’ll take em in. My guess is you want certain people at your school that you’d use your vouchers at.

    SSS finally getting a second gym is way overdue. Great for them.

    • @Jusdafax: You say, “Athletics is one of the most beneficial things a kid can do, it aids them academically, socially and physically.”

      This is simply not true. I point to the standard “THE EFFECT OF ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION
      ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS” study from College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University, as scientific support, which clearly states:

      “Based on the results of the study, *it is difficult to make the argument that athletics are linked to improved academic achievement*. While athletic participation can still be considered part of the overall education of students with numerous benefits such as the development of leadership and teamwork skills, these benefits *do not seem to translate to the classroom*.” (emphasis added)

      and

      “Not only was the hypothesis that athletes would see an increase in GPA that was higher than that of nonparticipants rejected, athletes actually saw negative growth, while non-participants stayed the same…. With these results, it is not possible to make the argument that there is a relationship between athletic participation and increased academic performance. Policy-makers should keep this in mind when making decision regarding school funding.”

      #FactsNotFeelings

  8. Oh and I almost forgot- “SMH”- the coach left on his own for another higher paying job at a traditional football power. They didn’t “let him go”

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