Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
^ Intent of analysis is to present factual information rather than opinion <br />^ Appendix A highlights elements that were examined <br />Analysis Does Not Match Scope of Those Prepared by Outside Consultants <br />^ Report is not a formal merger plan or formal merger study <br />^ Examples of questions not addressed in analysis: <br />^ What school would my child attend in a merged system? <br />^ What programming {e.g. elementary foreign language instruction) would be <br />available at individual schools? <br />^ Would savings be achieved by merging school systems and if so, how much? <br />School Mergers in North Carolina <br />^ During the early 20t'' century, numerous NC municipalities received authority from <br />State legislature to create special chartered school districts <br />. These were often established to take advantage of larger tax bases that often <br />existed in urban areas <br />^ Number of school systems in NC peaked in late 1950's at 174 <br />^ Currently, there are 117 local school administrative units in the State <br />. One merger plan involving Cleveland County, Shelby and Kings Mountain school <br />units was approved in 2000 by the State Board of Education but has not been <br />implemented because of litigation <br />First School Merger Occurred in NC in 1960 <br />^ MecklenburglCharlotte was the first approved administrative unit merger in the State <br />^ Since then, 45 mergers have been approved throughout the state <br />. Appendix C of the report outlines the various mergers that have been approved in <br />11fC since 1960 <br />Merger Discussions in Orange County <br />^ 1985 - BOCC empanelled School Merger Study Commission to examine <br />potential impacts of merger <br />. Recommendations of Study Commission <br />. Equalize per pupil funding countywide <br />. Fund construction of new schools based on cooperative facilities plan developed <br />by both systems <br />. Encourage school districts to investigate areas where economies may be <br />affected by joint operations such as transportation, food service & maintenance <br />. Encourage school districts to pursue areas of educational cooperation such as <br />special services <br />. Appendix E contains the Executive Summary of the 7986 School Merger Study <br />Commission Report <br />. 1986 School Merger Study Commission Report can be viewed in its entirety at <br />the County's website (www.co.orange.nc.us) <br />Successful Collaborations <br />^ Since 1988, funding for school construction and renovation projects has totaled $277 <br />million <br />. Includes four voter approved school capital bond referenda (1988, 1992, 1997 and <br />2001) <br />BOCC approved policies, standards and funding <br />. Capital funding policy that earmarks annual non-debt revenues available for <br />school and County capital projects <br />