Orange County NC Website
8 <br />Elementary level, grades K through 5 make up the majority of capacity generating space, <br />while classrooms for special /exceptional students, speech language and one flex classroom <br />comprise the remainder. The County standard for a traditional elementary school is 585 <br />students, which takes into account the 1:21 class size ratio for grades K through 3. The <br />adopted County standards allot 1,700 square feet for one Pre-K classroom. However, this <br />Pre-K classroom does not count towards school capacity, per the adopted standards. State <br />Facilities Guidelines do not require space for Pre-K classrooms in public schools, however <br />the guidelines include a recommendation of 1,200 to 1,400 square feet per Pre-K classroom <br />should they be provided by school districts. <br />The ordinances and Memorandum(s) of Understanding are speck in the reporting and <br />analysis required annually. At the Elementary level, building capacity includes grades K <br />through 5 and the membership numbers reported for those grades are utilized for the annual <br />Certificates of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) calibration and SAPFOTAC Report and <br />projections. Regardless of .the number of Pre-K students or classrooms in either district, <br />SAPFO reporting and analysis at the Elementary level includes grades K through 5 only. <br />Conclusion <br />In summary, the adopted Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO) and <br />Memorandum(s) of Understanding include specific reporting and analysis requirements for <br />both school districts. Pre-K classrooms and students are not provided for in SAPFO and are <br />not included in reported numbers and subsequent analysis. While an increase in Pre-K <br />classrooms andlor students may impact availability of space at those schools with Pre-K <br />classrooms, there are no implications to SAPFO, the reporting of the membership and <br />capacity numbers, or the issuance of CAPS. <br />