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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19980311APPROVED JUNE 2 ,1998 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS JOINT MEETING ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD AND CHAPEL HILL/CARRBORO SCHOOL BOARD MARCH 11, 1998 AT 7:30 P.M. HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY CENTER CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session with members of the Orange County School Board and the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School Board on March 11, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. at the Homestead Community Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon and Stephen H. Halkiotis. COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Albert Kittrell and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Larry Haverland and members Robert H. Bateman, Keith Cook, Rick Kennedy and Susan Doverbarger. CHAPEL HILLICARRBORO SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Nick Didow and members Elizabeth Carter, Harvey Goldstein, Bea Hughes-Werner and Ken Touw NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. AGENDA 1. School CIPs Orange County Schools Superintendent Randy Bridges said that in his information he forwarded to the manager's office many of the items will be funded this year from bond money. The majority of their CIP plan is for their new high school and most of the funding will go toward the high school Nick Didow made a few introductory comments. He wants the Board of County Commissioners to know that their focus continues to be on the academic achievement of every child in their district. Many things have happened since they last met with the Board of County Commissioners. The proficiency gains continue to increase dramatically. Their SAT scores among their high school students continue to lead the state. Some 90% of their high school grads go on to college or professional schools. Their dropout rate continues to decline dramatically. Since they last met, they have bid two new projects which both came in under bid. They have tried to be fully responsive to the County Commissioners in participating on committees for school and land use and high school standards. Neil Pedersen said that the bulk of their CIP funding will be for new schools as well. He highlighted the other projects which include major renovations to Estes Hills and Glenwood Elementary. These are their two oldest schools. With some of the money from underbidding, they will be able to do some renovations. They are doing a major renovation of the Cultural Arts building at Chapel Hill High. They will be replacing heating and ventilating units at Seawell Elementary. They will be replacing the roof on Ephesus Elementary School and will spending about $800,000 on technology which will be a recurring expense. Commissioner Carey asked if this is the first time the roof at Ephesus is being replaced in 25 years and Superintendent Pedersen said yes. 2. County Capital and Debt Management Policies John Link gave background information on these two policies. He said that in February 1998, the Board of Commissioners updated the County's capital funding policy. The most significant change is an increase in the level of project detail required in County and school capital project ordinances and ordinance amendments. The Board also reviewed and edited a proposed debt management policy that will help ensure that the County maintains a sound debt position, that its credit quality is protected, and that demonstrates a commitment to long term financial planning objectives. Rod Visser said that our present bond rating is AA+. Part of the justification for an AAA bond rating is to show that we have taken all measures when incurring debt and that we know exactly how the money is being spent, timetable, etc. When the scope of a project changes or the amount has increased, the County will expect the school system to initiate that change through a project ordinance. DEBT MANAGEMENT POLICY Ken Chavious said that this policy provides guidance on the issuance of debt to help ensure that the County maintains a sound debt position and that its credit quality is protected. Also, this debt management policy will allow for an appropriate balance between establishing debt parameters and providing flexibility to respond to unforeseen circumstances and/or new opportunities. 3. Adopted School Budgets Chair Margaret Brown said that this came up during our budget deliberations last year. The County Commissioners asked that each of the two school systems prepare a report that outlines the final budgets adopted by each Board of Education for 1997-98. Of particular interest were funds allocated to various new or expanded programs identified in each school district's requested budget, and differences between funds requested and ultimately allocated to these programs. The Board also was specifically interested in brief explanations of the objectives and expected outcomes of any new or expanded programs, in addition to information about the dollars allocated to those programs. Neil Pedersen said that they funded as many enhancements as they could and that they did remain faithful to what they had requested and tried to fund those items that were of highest priority. He said that in terms of major issues in last years budget, last year was the first year they dealt with charter schools and they paid over $400,000 to them last year and this year. They have a lot of growth issues as the student population keeps increasing. Their special population is also increasing. He explained the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program and noted that they are one of three pilot programs in the state. This program is aimed at students, most of whom are African- American, who have the potential to complete a rigorous, college-prep curriculum, including honors and accelerated courses but may not be challenging themselves sufficiently. They have expanded their gifted program making that a K-12 program. They have opened their alternative school in their board room at Lincoln Center and plan to use two mobile units to expand this program next year. Randy Bridges said that overall they have seen some successes with scores on SAT, computer skills, etc. One of the items in their expansion program was for their present year-round program. This is a 6th grade program with 40 students. They will expand this year-round opportunity next year into the 7th grade . Their exceptional children's program is growing. They asked last year for teacher assistants for 4th and 5th grades and these were funded. There are a lot of health needs and they need a nurse in every school. They were able to add one nurse last year for the system. They have hired two teachers to teach English as a Second Language. 4. Schools and Land Use Council Update John Link made reference to the one page status report and said that this Council has met on several occasions and have made progress in several areas as outlined in the status report. He noted that at the last meeting between the County Commissioners and the two school systems we distributed a draft memo of understanding agreeing to work together to plan schools. After that meeting, the County Commissioners added this to the charge for the Schools and Land Use Council. 5. New School Planning/Construction Updates Randy Bridges said that they are in the planning stages of a new elementary school and a new high school. The biggest issue is siting a school. They are in the process of narrowing their choices. They have an architect and everything is in place. Neil Pedersen said that their elementary school is under way. They are scheduled to open the elementary school in Southern Village in 1999. The construction for the addition to East Chapel Hill High has started and the athletic facilities will be ready this summer. The proposed project at Meadowmont is on hold for now. They have been undergoing extensive searches for school sites in case Meadowmont does not materialize. They hope to identify at least 12 sites and hope to get feedback from other agencies. They have looked at the possibility of adding on to their three middle schools instead of building a new one. They have three options - building at Meadowmont, building at another site or adding on to the three present middle schools. 6. High School Construction Standards Task Force Update Rod Visser gave an overview of the material included in the agenda. The Task Force has met three times. March 25th is the next meeting and hopefully the last. They have focused on space guidelines from the DPI document. They have talked about energy efficiency and about construction management like those used in Johnston County. 7. Orange County Schools/Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Issues a. Alternative School OCS Neil Pedersen reported that last year the two school systems talked about a joint effort for providing an alternative school. However, that did not materialize. The need is still there. Their plan is to use an alternative school to help those students who are at risk and not just those who are disruptive. Susan Dovenbarger said that the County School Board received at their last meeting a plan for providing comprehensive services. The money they need would be used for staffing. They plan to have an alternative school open at the beginning of next school year which will serve 36 kids. b. Towing and Storage Fees (OCS) Randy Briggs provided a report on the confiscation of cars for repeated DWI offenses. They spent $4,000 for a place to house these automobiles and have so far towed 19 vehicles at a cost of $1300. c. Water and Sewer for New Schools (OCS) Randy Briggs said that he questions if there is assistance available to help pay for water and sewer. John Link said that they have no provision for assistance. Randy Briggs said that this is an issue that needs to be discussed. Bob Bateman asked if this is something they need to pursue with Hillsborough. d. Agreement for Providing Coordinated Facili Panning (OCS) Susan Dovenbarger expressed interest in this resolution and asked if collocating and sharing facilities would increase the cost for several groups to use the facility. John Link said that all partners would bring money with them. If it is the County talking with the school about a combination school/community park, it would be the County bringing money to the table. Susan Dovenbarger asked when those discussions would take place. John Link said that the organization which has a plan would call a meeting of all those interested parties. Larry Haverland said that they are looking at a site for a school and he asked when they go out and walk the property, if the County and other possible partners go with them. John Link said that the County would be interested in doing that. Chair Margaret Brown said that she would like for them to include the County when looking at possible sites and asked that we work together on this. Commissioner Crowther also asked not to limit collaborating to recreation but include senior centers, etc. e. Additional Funding of Capital Improvement Plan C( HCCS) Harvey Goldstein said that they wanted to remind the County Commissioners that in the discussion of the bond referendum last year, the funding that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools received for renovations was less than their needs or less than the formula for the policy for the two school systems. On a per pupil basis and on the basis of the age of their school buildings, they will need additional funds for renovations. He made reference to the list in the packet. They have not added any new items to their wish list. John Link said that he looked back at the process they followed. The formula is for funding appropriated to the school system from sales tax, proceeds from bonds and impact fees. He recalls a Dec. 6 letter urging the board to approve option 5b, so there may need to be a further explanation of option 5b. He clarified that there was never a binding O.U. for money for renovations. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the voters did approve a change in the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City Schools district tax on the use of this tax. They are using 17.9 and the cap is 35. They can now legally use this to fund capital. He recalls a discussion where the County Commissioners did say they would try to help with the needs which were not covered by bond monies. Commissioner Halkiotis said that using the district tax is one way to pay for these unmet needs. f. Preparation of the 1998-99 Operating Budget Request C( HCCS) Nick Didow said that they have provided to the Board of County Commissioners a letter of what they have done so far with their budget. e General Updates from School districts C{ HCCS) Nick Didow said that in the interest of coordination and intergovernmental relations they do have a representative on the New Horace Williams Operations Advisory Committee. They look forward to participating on this committee. He mentioned that this has been a good year for them. One of the things that is part of this is the discussion they continue to have about the nature of the elementary school they plan to open at Southern Village and what model of organization they will use. They think this discussion is going to be one of the most productive for the elementary schools throughout their district. Their Board is very pleased to be able to operate from a body of strength toward looking at this project. Neil Pedersen mentioned their collaborative effort on the Carrboro Library at McDougle School and said that things are going great with no conflicts between the school and the library. 8. Reimbursement of Sales Taxes Paid for School Construction Rod Visser said that the County has been requesting reimbursement of sales tax for two years. They have received two refund checks back on McDougle. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to discuss, a motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Carey to adjourn the meeting. The next regular meeting will be held on March 17, 1998 in the Board Room at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Margaret W. Brown, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk