The process, approved by county commissioners this morning, will begin with the request for qualifications of architects seeking the use of prototypes which architects believe to be best suited for the new Manning Elementary School project.

Commissioners approved the request of Superintendent Dennis Sawyer on a 5-1 vote, Carolyn Johnson the lone dissenter.

The request comes on the heels of a January 30 letter from Sawyer to County Manager Tony Brown.

In that letter Sawyer writes, “We are open to considering the use of prototypes for the proposed design of a new Manning Elementary School. In fact, according to our research, we had already concluded that the use of a prototype would save the school system funds for the design of the school.”

Sawyer continued in the letter, “However, instead of limiting ourselves to the prototypes maintained by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, we would prefer to issue a request for qualifications seeking the use of prototypes that architects believe to be best suited for the new Manning Elementary School project. We believe the RFQ process would result in better options for the school system and not limit us to selecting a prototype from DPI's website.”

Sawyer said following his presentation to the board the decision to go in this direction comes from a board meeting in January where commissioners delayed approving state lottery funds so the system could begin building an athletic complex on the former Patterson Mill site off Tenth Street.

During discussion at that meeting the topic of construction of a new Manning school came up. “The athletic complex and Manning are both important,” Sawyer said outside the board room. “We're just looking at different funding.”

In this morning's meeting, Commissioner Rives Manning said, “We really need to start looking at architects and make sure we can get one we can afford. It has to be affordable and not a grandiose Taj Mahal.”

Sawyer told the board the school system plans to look at two schools, an intermediate school in Hoke County and a middle school in Greene County.

Brown said by going this route it will give the county better feedback on the cost of doing this with the hopes it will come under an initial estimate of $22.8 million.

“We're not asking for any money,” Sawyer said. “We do want to peruse prototypes. We want to be a team player and be transparent. The longer we wait the more expensive it's going to be.”

Said board Chair Vernon Bryant following the meeting, “This is a major step in building a new Manning school.”