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needed by the middle school. A portion of the remainder of the property is located in Chapel Hill's <br />jurisdiction and would be used to develop the rest of the athletic fields. He mentioned that neither of <br />the sites being considered would be large enough to accommodate all of the components necessary <br />for the middle school and its athletic fields. A second issue the School Board will consider in <br />determining where to locate the actual building is the proposed timeline for review and permitting. <br />Carrboro has indicated that this process could be complete within fifteen or sixteen months. They are <br />now seeking timeline clarification from Carrboro and clarification regarding the minor stream <br />designation. The review process would take a considerably shorter period of time if the building were <br />located in the Chapel Hill jurisdiction. This would provide the advantage of the school opening within <br />one year rather than two years. Finally, he mentioned that the Homestead Road, Carrboro site would <br />require significant upgrade to Homestead Road while the upgrade required for the Seawell Road site <br />would be considerably less expensive. <br />Chair Brown asked which site would provide more playing fields. Mr. Didow indicated that they <br />both would provide approximately the same area for playing fields but the Homestead Road site <br />already has a cleared pasture area. Until the University builds a road, that area would remain in open <br />space and recreation areas. <br />Mr. Didow felt confident, after initial conversations with Mayor Waldorf, that Chapel Hill would <br />adhere to the timeline they discussed. The School Board also felt that the Chapel Hill site had other <br />advantages <br />Commissioner Carey asked for clarification regarding the additional 15,000 square feet in the <br />design. <br />Mr. Didow indicated that the facility would house faculty offices, several curriculum areas and <br />a distance learning complex with the capability of making significant advances in the area of distance <br />learning. They also want an auditorium that would be suitable for large presentations. Mr. Didow <br />stated that there would be no more than a 2 or 3 minute walk to any of the athletic fields. This school <br />is designed to house 700 students. <br />Capital projects completed last summer or underway this year <br />Superintendent Pedersen presented an update on the capital projects completed last summer <br />or currently underway. A copy of his report is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office and is <br />marked as Attachment 2. <br />Refined Model For New Elementary School: <br />Superintendent Pedersen presented a report on the refined model for the new elementary <br />school in Southern Village. He indicated that the Board had previously approved a model for the <br />school; however, there were many details remaining to be defined. In refining the model, they ran into <br />some difficulties in providing some components within the same budget as the other elementary <br />schools. He reviewed many of the features which will be offered in this school. A copy of this report, <br />in its entirety, is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. <br />Mr. Didow stated that they had looked at capacity planning figures for each of the elementary <br />schools in order to determine if they would be able to accommodate the planned enrollment figures for <br />the new middle school. Their determination was that they would be able to accommodate those <br />enrollments. He mentioned that the University's announcement that they would increase enrollment <br />by 5000 students translates into 550 new students for the Chapel Hill Carrboro School System. This <br />was not included in their original enrollment projections. <br />In response to a question from County Manager Link, Mr. Pedersen indicated that they have <br />decided not to implement a separate pay schedule for this school. They are also considering placing <br />computers in the homes of students at this school who cannot afford to purchase computers for <br />themselves. He mentioned that the number of teacher's assistants planned for this school has been <br />reduced by half. <br />Commissioner Gordon expressed a concern about having smaller class sizes for this school. <br />She pointed out that the Board of County Commissioners has promised citizens that certain class <br />size criteria will be met for enrollments. The School Board would have to assure the Commissioners <br />that those class sizes are being adhered to before any request for additional facilities would be