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locating services would be ideal and there needs to be space built into a facility for other services. Chair Brown asked if there were models and Michele Rivest said that there are other models around the State. Ashe County donated an entire school building and rebuilt their entire early childhood system in this facility. This building now houses the preschool program, parks and recreation, and the employment security commission. This is a wonderful approach. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he enjoyed listening to Michele Rivest because she is honest. He made reference to transportation and said that he looked at this issue a couple of years ago, and to put these kids on a bus would cost $250-300 a child because of the harnesses. Also, there would have to be a number of adults an the bus. He asked about other sites besides Ashe County. Michele Rivest said yes and that she would put together a list. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if they were in contact with these other sites and Michele Rivest said yes and that many of the initiatives started through the Smart Start partnership. Commissioner Halkiotis pointed out that for many years there was a bizarre operation in northern Orange County, which was a Head Start program that was run from the Head Start out of Wake County. Commissioner Halkiotis said that it would be important to get the information from the PowerPoint presentation to both school boards. He thanked Michele Rivest for coming. Chair Brown said that this issue could be put on the joint school board meeting agenda in the spring. Commissioner Gordon asked about the transition to kindergarten programs that are offered by the pre-k programs. Michele Rivest said that the transition from pre-k to the school system is very important and it is easier within the school systems. She said that there would be more detailed information from the school systems. Commissioner Jacobs asked Chair Brown about the next step. He did not think that there were going to be two buildings. Chair Brawn said that there are two school systems and both should be offered the opportunity. She said that this has to be a joint effort with the schools. This is the time to throw out ideas and begin discussions. Commissioner Carey said that when he saw this he thought they were talking about one building and not two. He said that this is more complex than he thought it would be. He thought the idea was to build one building in a desirable location and free up space in the schools. After the presentation tonight, it seems like expansion and not a way to free up space in schools. Michele Rivest said that she was talking about what is needed for early childhood education. One strategy would be to help increase the capacity. She was not trying to speak to the schools issue. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Ashe County and asked for a comparison of the trade-offs for a centralized location versus dispersed locations. He asked Michele Rivest to bring examples of the trade-offs.