Board votes 5–2 to place new Carthage Elementary on Vass–Carthage Road

December 9, 2025

The Moore County Board of Education approved the long-debated Vass-Carthage Road site as the future home of Carthage Elementary School on Dec. 8, ending months of dispute over where to place the new campus. The decision came during a four-hour school board meeting and included board discussion and public comment.

“As superintendent, I continue to recommend to the board that you consider a motion tonight to endorse the purchase of the site on Vass-Carthage Road as the final selected site for the future new Carthage Elementary School,” said Superintendent Dr. Tim Locklair. “I respect other perspectives and am empathetic to them, but as your superintendent, in recommending what is the best piece of property overall, I remain with the recommendation of the Vass-Carthage Road site.”

Public Speakers

Of the public speakers who spoke at the Dec. 8 meeting, all four were largely opposed to building the new Carthage Elementary School on Vass-Carthage Road and urged the board to reconsider.

“I’m here tonight to once again urge you to listen to the citizens of Moore County and not move forward with the development of the Vass-Carthage Road parcel for the new Carthage Elementary School,” started public commenter Aaron Honey. “My opposition is not to building a school. Everyone in this room agrees that a modern, well-designed elementary school is needed. My concern is that the Vass-Carthage Road parcel is simply not the right location, and the process that has brought us here has overlooked better, more responsible alternatives.”

Further, Honey pointed to the fact that Carthage is not the only school capable of alleviating overcrowding, which is one of the board’s justifications for the site of the new school.

“The board has repeatedly justified the Vass-Carthage Road site as necessary to relieve projected overcrowding at Vass-Lakeview and Sandhills Farm Life, but that rationale completely ignores one critical fact: Cameron Elementary School is currently under-enrolled and can absorb approximately 150 students,” cited Honey. “Cameron Elementary is closer to Vass-Lakeview than Sandhills Farm Life is. Before pushing forward with a major new school outside the town of Carthage, the district should be utilizing the space it already has. That is fiscally responsible and operationally logical.”

Speakers further expressed frustration over what they perceived as a lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process, warning that it gives the impression of predetermined outcomes and erodes public trust.

“First, I want to say I know you all have impeccable integrity and are beyond reproach,” said Jim Pedersen, one of the speakers who took the stand. “But I’ve been watching the past couple of months and the decisions lately. It’s giving people—the citizens—the perception that there have already been predetermined decisions, and that the meetings are just for show because decisions are already made and you’re not going to listen to anybody anyway.”

He, along with the other speakers, urged the board to pause the process, engage in more transparent evaluation, and honor the community’s request to keep the school within the Carthage town limits.

Several speakers felt that moving the school outside town limits would harm Carthage’s identity and history, disrupt long-standing community ties, and negatively impact local businesses.

Safety was another major concern, as parents feared losing the daily presence of the Carthage Police Department and having slower emergency response times if the school is relocated.

Board Discussion

Following months of debate, board members held one final discussion and posed questions.

Board member David Hensley specifically asked Assistant Superintendent Jenny Purvis for more information regarding enrollment, overcrowding, and the potential to utilize existing available space at Cameron Elementary.

“I looked at the school assignment plan, and not only is Vass-Lakeview physically closer to Cameron, which apparently is one-third empty, but there’s a straight shot [of road],” Hensley observed. “Did we take Cameron into consideration when we did this cascading, and why won’t that work?”

“You certainly, sir, could cascade in any direction,” answered Purvis. “The issue with Cameron is that Cameron is an older school as well. It’s just like Carthage. It’s in need of a lot of repair.”

Hensley also argued for delaying a decision: he proposed tabling or voting down the motion to allow two months of negotiations on the Needmore site, claiming it wouldn’t affect the bond timing materially. He suggested developers could provide land, adjacent utilities, and road corridor, enabling a community around the school rather than an isolated rural site.

However, board member Dr. Amy Dahl expressed that the surrounding area around the Vass-Carthage Road site won’t see rampant development, and that everything the board has planned is in keeping with the county’s Land Use Plan.

“We would not be going forward with something that was not in keeping with the Land Use Plan,” said Dahl. “The Land Use Plan specifically and explicitly allows schools to be built in RA. It does not allow high-density housing to be built in RA. I just wanted to repeat that point because people are still stating that it’s contrary to the land-use plan, and it is not.”

Board member Steve Johnson mirrored this sentiment.

“If the growth were to happen, it would have to be rezoned, and that would be a logistical piece that the landowners would have to participate in with the county,” assured Johnson. “At this time, I don’t know that it would even be possible to have it rezoned to be developed, and so I’m not convinced there’s going to be growth on that spot. My hope is, if we do move forward with Carthage Elementary there, that we embrace that rural tradition and embrace the farms around it, similar to Farm Life.”

Board member Pauline Bruno, conversely, cautioned against the decision, citing past tensions with the Town of Carthage and the Moore County Board of Commissioners—including a recent meeting where the commissioners left the session early.

“I understand that Carthage needs a new school, but I really don’t like the way the whole process went for this,” stated Bruno. “We have certain members of this board who have insulted our county commissioners outright. We have certain members of this board who have insulted our Carthage commissioners. I don’t believe you go around insulting the people who feed us. You don’t bite the hand that feeds us. And I think that Moore County Schools is going to pay for this.”

As the discussion came to a close, a motion was made to endorse the purchased Vass-Carthage Road parcel as the final site to proceed with development and bond preparation.

The motion passed 5-2. Board members Robin Calcutt, Shannon Davis, Steve Johnson, Kenneth Benway, and Amy Dahl voted in favor, with David Hensley and Pauline Bruno dissenting.

“We are not rushing into this,” assured Board Chair Dr. Robin Calcutt. “This is the best decision for Moore County Schools.”

To watch a replay of the meeting on YouTube, click here.

Abegail Murphy | Assistant Editor
Article written by Sandhills Sentinel Assistant Editor Abegail Murphy. Abegail has been writing for Sandhills Sentinel since 2021.
Want Moore news that matters? Please click here to sign up for the free Sandhills Sentinel e-newsletter.