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I A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Brown to <br />2 approve the capital project ordinance for renovations to Glenwood Elementary School. <br />3 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />5 3. Issues Identified by Orange County Schools <br />7 a. Funding for Opening New Elementary School <br />8 Superintendent Randy Bridges made reference to a budget session held last year and <br />9 the discussion on funding the start-up costs for the new elementary school from the Orange <br />10 County fund balance. He said that the estimated start-up costs for opening a new elementary <br />11 school would be $700,000 to $1,000,000. He asked if the County Commissioners still expect <br />12 the Orange County school board to use their fund balance for opening this new elementary <br />13 school. <br />14 Chair Carey asked that Randy Bridges work with the County Manager on this issue. He <br />15 said that the commitment from the County Commissioners is for both school systems to <br />16 maintain a reasonable fund balance. <br />17 John Link asked about the fund balance for the Orange County school system and said <br />18 that the County Commissioners could address what the fund balance may not cover. <br />19 Rick Kennedy pointed out that the start up costs for a new elementary school in Chapel <br />20 Hill-Carrboro is twice what it is for Orange County. <br />21 John Link said that the County Commissioners have two tools in terms of addressing the <br />22 Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system; general tax and district tax. He said that the County <br />23 Commissioners only have one tool in terms of addressing the Orange County school system, <br />24 the general tax, which in this case means using the fund balance. He said that the allocations <br />25 to both school systems is based on the per pupil allocation. <br />26 Susan Halkiotis said that the fund balance that the Orange County school system has <br />27 had in the past has been their safety net. Her concern is that without a substantial amount of <br />28 money in the fund balance, the safety net is lost. <br />29 Bob Bateman said that his concern is that budget time does not give the Orange County <br />30 School Board enough time because the money will be needed prior to July 15` <br />31 Commissioner Brown would like to see the breakdown of costs for opening a new <br />32 elementary school for both school systems. <br />33 Rick Kennedy made reference to the special district tax and the difference in wealth <br />34 between the Towns and the County. <br />35 <br />36 Chair Carey mentioned that it was 10:30 and asked what the Board wanted to do about <br />37 the rest of the meeting. <br />38 A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to <br />39 extend the meeting to cover the last item for Orange County schools and the two items for the <br />40 County Commissioners' consideration. <br />41 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />42 <br />43 Susan Halkiotis had one final comment regarding the elementary school. She <br />44 mentioned the hunting signs on the perimeter of the property. The Orange County School <br />45 Board would like to ask the County Commissioners to consider evoking an ordinance around <br />46 this school prohibiting the firing of firearms within 1,000 feet of the school. <br />47 <br />48 b. Need for a New Middle School <br />49 Susan Halkiotis said that there are three mobile units at Stanford and one mobile unit at <br />50 Stanback. There needs to be serious discussions about land acquisition and funding for a new <br />51 middle school.