HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-26-2004- 3~3)
Orange County
Board of
Education
Dr. Shirley Carraway
Superintendent
Board Members:
Keith Cook, Chair
Brenda Stephens, Vice Chair
Randy Copeland
Libbie Flough
Delores Simpson
Dana Thompson
200 East [Cin~+ Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278
Telephone: 919-732-8126
FAX: 919-7.32-8120
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TO: John Link
Orange County Manager
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FROM: Shirley Carraway~
Superintendent, Orange County Schools
SUBJECT: Joint Meeting on Apri126, 2004
DATE: April 22, 2004
On April 19°i the Orange County Board of Education discussed items for
inclusion on the agenda for the,joint meeting with the Board of County
Commissioners and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System. The Board
identified four major areas for discussion. During our meeting on Tuesday,
April 20th to prepare the agenda for the meeting, it became quite apparent that
time would not allow for discussion of all the identified items. Each Board
was asked to select one item to be presented, Middle School # 3 presents a
number of areas to be discussed and resolved and, as a result, was the item that
was selected for consideration from our school district, Time will not allow
the resolution of all the items to be presented surrounding that topic, but the
Board would like to have an opportunity at the BOCC's earliest possible
convenience to have the dialogue necessary so that the project can move
forward.
The remaining items were placed on a list titled "Additional items identified by
Board Chairs and Staff on 4/20/04 as needing,joint attention by the three
boards." I think it may be helpful to the Commissioners and the Chapel Hill-
Carrboro School Board to have a brief description of each item.. This will
assist the BOCC and County staff in determining the most appropriate manner
to address each item.
Additional items for consideration:
Orange County School Central Office Expansion
In the 2003-2013 Orange County Schools' Capital Improvement Plan an
addition to the Central Administration Office on King Street was requested at a
cost of $1,650,000. The plan was to add on to the existing structure in order to
relocate staff from the support services building at Hillsborough Elementary to
one site. An addition of 15,000 sq. feet was determined to be required to
accomplish this. Hillsborough Elementary School began the expansion
process in 2002. This expansion resulted in the need to capture the 300 wing
formerly occupied by individuals serving as Orange County Schools' central
support staff, Central staff had been previously placed at Hillsborough
Orange Courtty,ScGools
'Providing edueariorml oP/lnrtunilies fnr saccesxfu(fiaures "
Link, John Page 2 April 22, 2004
Elementary due to lack of sufficient space at the King Street location. At
present the district has thirty central support staff located in seven of our
schools across the district. As the need for additional classroom space
increases we will have no place to house these support persons. It is also
difficult not having people proximally located who must work together to
support our schools.
Update on the Orange County Schools' Alternative Schools
Orange County Schools began their discussion about alternative programs in
1996. The early discussion resulted in the development of a task force whose
charge was to "build" a school founded in best-practice to serve the needs of
our at-risk students. Staff was directed to identify a site (existing or to be
constructed), A location to house the program on site was identified and, in
response to an ever growing need, the district expanded their evening
alternative program called the Night Panthers Program.
In .June of 2001, Orange County Schools' staff met with staff from Chapel
Hill-Car-rboro to talk about the possible cooperative development of a more
comprehensive program. The Orange County School system found the cost of
the program design prohibitive, even with the combined resources of both
districts. The district continued discussions related to the Alternative School
during 2002 and 2003 and the committee was reconvened on April 3, 2003.
The committee's work resulted in the location of a site and a program design
that was again cost prohibitive, Staff was directed to bring back an alternative
proposal.
On October 20, 2003 the Orange County Board of Education approved the
creation of alternative educational services for students needing a non-
traditional program. The program consists of a component that serves students
that have been long-term suspended and for other students needing an
educational day or program that differs from the traditional school day. The
components include:
• The ACE (Alternative Choice in Education) program located at
Orange High School in classrooms vacated with the addition of Cedar
Ridge. This program offers Internet-based instruction (NovaNet) for
students needing anon-traditional day. This program began in
February with a licensed teacher as the facilitator and will remain open
until Junel8th. Even with the late start the program will allow ten
students to graduate this year.. This program is open daily from 12:00
noon unti16:30 p.m. and can serve up to 20 students..
• The alternative program for long-term suspended students as you are
aware will be located in a temporary mobile stnrcture on Tryon Street.
The staff has been hired and structural changes made to the facility to
Link, John Page 3 Anril 22, 2004
• comply with required codes. Students are being contacted and we
anticipate opening our doors by May 151,
We are excited about both programs and are appreciative that we can now offer
alternative programming Co these two very different groups of students;
however both facilities only partially meet our needs. We know that there are
many other students in need of alternative programming that we do not have.
We also have a time limit on the use of the Tryon Street School facility.. We
must be out of the building by June 2006 and have already begun discussions
and planning for that move,
Smart Growth Related to Middle School # 3
Orange County Schools realizes that there have been numerous discussions
related to "Smart Growth" principals for school construction. These principles
seek to develop schools with new building technologies and other
environmentally friendly site conshvction attributes. The standards are further
intended to foster joint and mixed-use opportunities between schools and other
public entities. With the development of Middle School # .3 and the tentative
plan to design and construct recreational or other for public use facilities
adjacent to the school, the School Board would like consideration for any
financial benefits that would be available if "Smart Growth" principles are
applied to this school construction project.
Joint Use and Co-location of Schools/Recreation Properties
As we continue to move forward with the planning and development of Middle
School # 3 the need to clearly define the parameters surrounding co-location of
facilities becomes even more pressing. In order to maximize all dollars spent
and to make certain that neither project is delayed in any way by the
development, or lack thereof of the other, there needs to be a clear
understanding by all parties of all aspects of both projects. The potential
growth generated by the co-location of this middle school and an adjacent
public facility will greatly enhance this section of the County, The school
board would appreciate an opportunity to fully discuss any area related to this
issue.
/pmc