Martin County schools to pursue Career‑Technical Center after $5.3M grant award

Superintendent Chris Mansfield and Career‑Technical Education Director David Jenkins told the Martin County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 14 that the Board of Education has secured a $5.3 million Needs‑Based Public School Capital Fund grant for a proposed Career‑Technical Center to be sited at the county’s NC Telecenter.

The presentation outlined a program to support health sciences, business and financial operations, industrial processes and technology/engineering that county officials say should complement, not duplicate, offerings at Martin Community College. The Board of Education and local partners will need to negotiate purchase of the site from the Martin County Economic Development Corporation, select a design firm and satisfy a required local match. Dr. Mansfield said the local match requirement is approximately 25 percent (a 1:3 match), and the county had already budgeted $1 million from the Hospital Fund toward the project.

Board members pressed staff on schedule and funding details. Dr. Mansfield estimated design and bidding would proceed in late winter/early spring with construction targeted to begin in summer 2019 and an estimated one year for construction. Commissioner Ronnie Smith asked whether the EDC property could count as an in‑kind match; County Manager David Bone advised that the building itself could not be considered an in‑kind match under state rules and that the Board of Education must identify an eligible local match. The board discussed the need to coordinate with Martin Community College and area employers to keep curriculum aligned with regional workforce needs.

The board received the update and gave direction to continue coordinating site conveyance, design selection and the Department of Public Instruction approval process. No binding county appropriation beyond previously budgeted funds was approved at the Nov. 14 meeting.