Orange County NC Website
Bill Strom said he supports the percentage enrollment numbers. He thinks that <br /> raising the numbers would be a mistake. He said that he differs with Pat Evans because <br /> he thinks that they were working to put a tool in place that would ensure adequate <br /> capacity in the schools in the future and that this tool should not be criticized. He is very <br /> comfortable that we have conditional use zoning in Chapel Hill and that the Council can <br /> pace the CAPS. <br /> Jim Ward said that the issue of levels of service has been a big hurdle to get an <br /> agreement on. The other issue is that this is not an agreement that they are interested <br /> in if it creates an immediate moratorium. It would in Orange County unless we have <br /> some way of addressing the middle school level of service. The School Facilities Task <br /> Force decided that the best way to handle this is for the implementation date for Orange <br /> County to be pushed back to when the new school is put in place. He said that this is a <br /> narrow window of opportunity that we should take advantage of even though it is not <br /> perfect. <br /> Diana McDuffee said that she liked to look at the levels of service from a different <br /> angle and that these represent the best of what we look for in our schools. It is difficult <br /> to look at both school systems equally. She is concerned about the levels of service that <br /> the Board of County Commissioners can support and write a CIP plan that can support <br /> these levels of service without wiping out other items in the CIP. She thinks that <br /> Carrboro's recommendation was that they were very concerned to see a CIP that shows <br /> that this level can be supported. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that another important thing that was considered was <br /> the status of each jurisdiction of what remains to be done. She recalls that Chapel Hill <br /> has approved the MOU without conditions, Carrboro approved it with conditions, the <br /> Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools approved it, and Orange County will take this up <br /> shortly. There will be two different agreements, but we are trying to make them start at <br /> the same time. The Hillsborough Town Board discussed this on July 23'', and was <br /> willing to adopt the MOU, but did not commit as to whether or not it will adopt the <br /> ordinance. The Orange County School district adopted a previous version, but they had <br /> some concerns with the second version. She said that the Schools and Land Use <br /> Council and the Schools Facilities Task Force made recommendations on all of the <br /> decision points in the MOU. According to the County Attorney, it is possible to suspend <br /> the middle school level for the Orange County schools and not wait for the effective date <br /> of the ordinance. She hopes that the MOU can be adopted before Thanksgiving. <br /> Alex Zaffron said that he looks forward to reading the addendum, and Geoff <br /> Gledhill said that it is not ready. They need to see the addendum before they know that <br /> the revisions are adequate. <br /> Orange County School Board Chair Dana Thompson passed around a letter that <br /> the Orange County School Board sent to the Board of County Commissioners this past <br /> week. They are concerned that there are a number of questions to be answered. She <br /> wants to suggest an alternative that has not been suggested yet. It is listed on page two <br /> of the letter. She said that their board has felt tremendously rushed in this process these <br /> past weeks as they have tried to get some of the questions answered. She said that <br /> they feel that they needed more time to address some concerns. The alternative is <br /> instead of all of the boards formally adopting the MOU and the ordinance that we agree <br /> to go through a trial run in the upcoming year to see what works. This allows the staff to <br /> identify problems as the process unfolds and then immediately try out possible solutions. <br /> She said that nothing says that we have to have this in place this year. Her board would <br /> appreciate the opportunity to see exactly how their concerns will be addressed during <br /> the yearlong process. <br />