Minutes - 20030414 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Commissioner Gordon made reference to the environmental constraints and said that there are some intermittent streams in the area and if they are disturbed, they have to be re-vegetated. This makes the building envelopes a little different and adds more constraints. b. Process for and Commitment of Resources to School Merger Analysis John Link made reference to the hand out, the detailed school merger implication listing of elements to be pursued in examining the pros, cons, and other implications of potential merger of the two school systems. He said that the County staff is committed to providing as much information on each of the elements as passible. He explained what each of the colored items meant on the document. The topic tonight is what all parties can contribute to the merger issue. Commissioner Carey asked if the school boards had seen this document. John Link said that they met with the Superintendents and school staff and they discussed how to work together in responding to all of these elements. He hopes the school board members have seen the list of elements. Chair Brown asked John Link about the end product. John Link showed a school merger study done by Research Triangle Institute for Guilford County in 1985 and a smaller study done by Orange County in 1987. Both of the studies were good. He also showed two other studies done in Cleveland and Durham Counties that were not sa goad. If the County pursues consultants, then he thinks it would have to be something like RTI. He said that the staff is just trying to generate as much information as possible by the fall. He is comfortable doing this in-house, but if the boards want afull-blown analysis of merger, then the RTI example is one to look at. Valerie Foushee said that what is still vague is the time frame and the first status report in June. She said that it would be helpful far the school board to know at what paint these issues should be addressed to make the report timely. She made reference to Objective 2, Task A, and asked what defines appropriate public input. Commissioner Carey responded from his perspective. He said that the Board has not had the opportunity to discuss what appropriate public input would be until they get the report and share it with the public in August. He said that the Board of County Commissioners has never proceeded without public input before so it will continue its track record. Jahn Link said that he would want to collaborate with the Superintendents to see what elements could be addressed by the first reporting period by the end of June. The financial impacts could be generated by the end of June but others will take more time. He said that at the next Superintendent's meeting they could address as many of these elements as possible. Gloria Foley asked how long the other studies took to complete and John Link said that the studies by the consultants took one year and the internal one with Orange County also took at least one year. Nick Didow said that he had a copy of the one done in 1987, but he could not recall how many pages were in it. John Link said that it was about 200 pages in Orange County's report. He said that he does not see the staff creating anything this large. Elizabeth Carter said that they are concerned about the number of hours that would go into this type of study. Keith Cook said that he agrees that we would need to know about how long this study will take. He would like to get a consultant to do this. He said that it seems that alot of time is now being required by the school boards and that they have a lot on their plate now. Randy Copeland asked if a four-month time frame would be sufficient to pull together all of the information. John Link said that they would like to have a year but they would like to