Morganton, NC – Friday, Oct. 25, 2019
The Burke County Board of Education celebrated a gift of land from the state on Friday during a
special called meeting at Liberty Middle School. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture
signed over to Burke County Public Schools the nearly 50 acres of land that Liberty Middle and
North Liberty School sit on, as well as an additional 28 acres of land near the Liberty property
and behind Patton High School.
Burke County Board of Education Chair Randy Burns said when he realized Burke County
Public Schools had been leasing the land from the state for Liberty Middle and North Liberty,
which opened in 1989, he sought the Board of Education’s permission to pursue acquiring the
land. Burns contacted Burke County Board of Commissioners Chairman Johnnie Carswell, who
in turn reached out to Burke County’s state legislators Rep. Hugh Blackwell and Sen. Warren
Daniel. Carswell, Blackwell and Daniel were all at Liberty for Friday’s meeting, as were North
Carolina Department of Administration Deputy Secretary Mark Edwards, Assistant District
Forester Nathan Gatlin, Burke County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Scott Mulwee,
Commissioner Jeffrey Brittain, County Manager Bryan Steen and County Clerk Kay Draughn. In
addition to Burns, Board of Education Vice Chair Buddy Armour and members Edna Weller, Dr.
Don Hemstreet, Seth P. Hunt Jr. and Rev. Dr. RL Icard were present.
Burns said, “Today is a celebration. We have worked for a year and a half to two years on
getting this land and today, we got it.” Burns thanked all of those involved in transferring the
land over to the schools and invited Blackwell and Carswell to speak.
Blackwell said, “This is a fun occasion.” He thanked Sen. Daniel for his collaboration on the
project, the Department of Agriculture for their willingness to donate the land and the North
Carolina Department of Administration for processing the deed. The land was formerly part of a
forestry education center in Morganton, and Blackwell read a letter from North Carolina
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler stating excitement for the opportunity for the land to
continue to be used for education purposes.
Carswell said he is excited for the future. “This is what collaboration can do,” Carswell said.
“Mr. Burns and I talk daily about education and the needs of our students. Burke County Public
Schools has one of the hardest working boards and collaboration between the boards of
education and commissioners has never been better. We are looking to the future and are all
about advancing. We don’t know what Burke County will be like in 10 years, but this county is
growing, the population is coming back, business is moving here, and I am excited to be a small
part of the future. We are moving forward and this is a great day for our county.”
Burke County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Larry Putnam recommended the Board of
Education accept the donation of 77 acres of land from the Department of Agriculture in
accordance with the board’s policy on gifts, Following a motion from Armour on
recommendation with “appreciation to all involved,” and a second on the motion from Hunt, all
school board members approved accepting the land as a gift from the state.
Weller recognized Burns for his efforts in acquiring the land and said, “We are such a great team working together and working with the county and the state to get this done.”
Burns shared his appreciation to all involved, including fellow school board members. He said,
“I am blessed to work with an awesome board. It is a pleasure to serve the students of Burke
County with them and all of this would not be possible without our teamwork and collaboration.”
Upon formally handing over the land deed to Burns, Administration Deputy Secretary Edwards
said, “I can think of no better use of these resources than for the land to be put to use for
educating the next generation.”
Liberty Middle School student government representatives participated Friday by leading the
group in the Pledge of Allegiance and leading those in attendance on a tour of the school
following the meeting.