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Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />Page 3 <br />September 29, 2000 <br />permit residential growth, the County must fund sufficient <br />facilities and the schools must educate the children resulting <br />from that residential growth. <br />The only sound approach to balancing school facilities and <br />residential growth student generation would be to regularly <br />chart the school children "generated" by growth projections to <br />see what school construction will be required. This can be <br />compared with a fiscal limiting chart. If the two charted lines <br />"cross," work needs to be done. More money must be found for <br />school construction or County-wide growth limiting land use <br />regulations must be implemented. <br />To what degree is school capacity affected by student- <br />teacher ratio decisions? <br />In the context of an adequate public school facilities <br />program, any student-teacher ratio change that changes school <br />capacity must be approved by the schools and the Coun~,y. That ±~~'~ <br />is, if the certificates can be impacted by student-teacher ratio <br />decisions of the school boards, the County must be on board. . <br />That is not to say that the schools cannot create their own <br />teacher-pupil ratios. However, those unilateral school board <br />decisions cannot affect.the adequate public school facilities <br />program until and unless the County is on board with the <br />changes. And, whether the County is on board on school board <br />approved student-teacher ratios beyond the adequate public <br />school facilities program is, in my opinion, in Orange County, a <br />political one. On the other hand, the County cannot arbitrarily <br />say no to school capacity changes that are the result of <br />teacher-student ratio changes that are mandated at State and <br />federal levels. <br />This "issue" does not prompt a question. Rather it prompts <br />a comment. There are several places in the draft ordinance that <br />need some "wordsmithing." Particularly the section dealing with <br />exemptions, the section dealing with appeals of denials of a <br />CAPS, particularly the part about the governing board making a <br />"recommendation," and the section of the MOU related to <br />