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SCHOOL SYSTEM REPORTS ON ABC PROGRAMS PROGRESS: The Board of County Commissioners <br />received reports from both school systems on the ABC Program progress. Neil Pedersen, Superintendent <br />of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System, reported that all schools have either met, or exceeded <br />their goals for this program. McDougle Elementary School is expected to score much higher when the <br />next results are in; the current scores were affected by the fact that they are overcrowded. Randy Bridges, <br />Superintendent of the Orange County School System, reported that 7 out of 8 of their schools met or <br />exceeded their goals. The only exception was Hillsborough Elementary. <br />There was discussion of the results of these programs. It was mentioned by several officials that <br />the teachers and staff have done an excellent job. The Communities in Schools Project also received <br />congratulations for their success in identifying and meeting the needs of students outside of the <br />classroom. <br />INFORMATIONAL REPORTS: Items were presented in order to receive written information for discussion. <br />Those items were on the issues of Impact Fee Collections, the Impact of Charter School, Meadowmont <br />School Site, and the Southern Village Elementary Design/Construction. <br />Ms. Bushnell mentioned that the money for Impact Fees has been collected in a different waythis <br />year which may have contributed to the decrease in the total amount. <br />John Link suggested that the focus needs to be on the Impact Fees. He proposed that a task force <br />of both county and school staff could discuss what the present data reveals and what the implications are <br />of that information. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis mentioned that he and Commissioner Brown are bringing forward a report <br />on the Impact Fees. He has gathered information on what other communities across the county are doing <br />to cover to cost of building new schools. They will share this information with the other Commissioners <br />shortly. <br />ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS: This item was presented to discuss options for developing an alternative <br />school. Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools had indicated a desire to cooperate with the Orange County Schools <br />on developing and opening an alternative school. Neil Pedersen stated that a joint proposal was drafted <br />for an alternative school which would open in the fall of 1998. It would be a joint effort; however, a site has <br />not yet been found. His school board has allocated $100,000 in local funds. They have discussed using <br />mobile classrooms. Randy Bridges indicated that his Board had discussed this proposal. The have <br />questions about where the school would be located and if there is a facility available for this type of <br />school. They have not made provisions for funding this so they could not proceed this year, but they have <br />indicated that they are interested. <br />Mr. Bateman supported the concept of an alternative school but had concerns about where it would <br />be located. <br />Mr. Pedersen indicated that the intent of this alternative school would be for students with behavior <br />problems. The goal would be to have 30 students the first year with a maximum of 100 students when the <br />school was at full capacity. <br />There was consensus that staff for both of the school systems would meet and work together on <br />this proposal. <br />There was a request that the Cedar Grove facility be considered as a possible facility for the <br />alternative school. That will be researched. <br />ADJOURN: <br />There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. The next regular meeting <br />of the Orange County Board of Commissioners will be held on October 6, 1997 at 7:30 p.m. in the Old <br />Courthouse, Hillsborough, North Carolina.