Orange County NC Website
Craig Benedict referred to a handout— School APFO Memorandum of <br /> Understanding Elements. He explained the seven elements on the handout, which is <br /> incorporated in these minutes by reference. The base elements are the levels of service <br /> (elementary — 105%, middle — 107%, and high — 110%); membership date (November <br /> 15`h); and building capacity (not including portables). The variables include the capital <br /> improvements program (as approved by BOCC in June each year); student growth rate <br /> (average of five models); student projections (approved methods and average of five <br /> model projections); and student generation rate (Tischler and Associates, 2001). It was <br /> always intended that there would be two separate agreements, one for each school <br /> district. The aspects within both agreements are equitable. He said that the consensus <br /> on the 5 models is that it is best to average them all because there are some <br /> conservative and some aggressive models. <br /> Chair Jacobs asked whose consensus this was and Craig Benedict said the <br /> Schools and Land Use Council and the School Facilities Task Force. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that the School Facilities Task Force spent a lot of time <br /> on projections and levels of service. One of the things is that the two school districts <br /> have a different number of students and a different growth rate. This can affect the <br /> percentage rates of the level of service. The task force got through all of the other <br /> issues except the level of service. <br /> Craig Benedict said that what the discussion has been reduced to over the last few <br /> months is now that they have new membership projections, if the ordinance is <br /> implemented in February 2003, would we be over the levels of service. The answer was <br /> yes for Orange County middle schools. In the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district, schools will <br /> come on line before any de facto moratoriums will occur. There are four ways to resolve <br /> the levels of service issue — start off with a higher level of service and then lower it when <br /> a new school comes on line (not preferred), change the capacity of the schools, adjust <br /> the capital improvement program, or delay implementation of the ordinance until the <br /> levels of service are met. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that the CIP change of having the third high school for <br /> Chapel Hill-Carrboro has not been approved yet. There would be a de facto moratorium <br /> if the third high school were not approved. <br /> Craig Benedict said that the drawback for delaying implementation is that if one <br /> area implements delay then development would go to the place of least resistance. <br /> Commissioner Halkiotis said that this has come a long way since the attorneys met <br /> about this and this document has made significant progress and it is time to move on <br /> with it. <br /> John Link said that an important point was made that these levels of service are <br /> district-wide and not for each school. His concern is that all understand this and <br /> reinforce it. He said that people think the whole school system is overcrowded when <br /> only two or three schools are overcrowded. He said that we should make it clear that we <br /> are pursuing a system-wide process. He made reference to attachment 1-h, which <br /> shows the capacity of each school. <br /> Craig Benedict said that attachment 1-h is the certified capacity numbers. He then <br /> described attachment 1-g. He said that the actual measure of how many seats are <br /> available before you go over the level of service will be from 105% for elementary <br /> schools, 107% for middle schools, and 110% for high schools. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said the Schools and Land Use Council had discussed if we <br /> should convert some of the elementary seats to middle school seats in the Orange <br /> County Schools. Orange County schools were worried about the revenue stream and <br />