Orange County NC Website
techniques most effective to help him participate, he was repeatedly disciplined and suspended <br />several times for meltdowns. She said that the program currently does not have the training or <br />the staff to child ratio for the inclusion of a child with developmental disabilities. For her son, it <br />was as though they were disciplining a child with epilepsy for having a seizure. She and her <br />husband were called several times a week to retrieve Drew early from the after school program <br />and from summer camp. This trend has excluded him from the program. After the last <br />suspension, they tried a Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation program where inclusion practices <br />are used and all children are able to participate successfully. He has had a wonderful <br />experience in Chapel Hill. She said that it is vital for him to attend the after school program in <br />Orange County because it is the most effective opportunity for him to learn sufficient social <br />skills. She made reference to the white and red booklet with information about inclusion <br />practices in other counties. She thanked Drs. Carraway and Osborne for being responsive to <br />her concerns, and Melinda Grenard far making arrangements to provide staff training and <br />evaluation for the after school site that Drew will attend. She asked for an inclusion assessment <br />for the Orange County after school program and support for staff development to improve the <br />inclusion capability. <br />Commissioner Brown said that this should be included in the County's Parks and <br />Recreation program also. <br />Commissioner Carey asked Ms. Noel if she had asked the school system to conduct an <br />inclusion assessment of their after school programs. Ms. Noel said that they are only doing a <br />site-specific assessment for her son's benefit only. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that this training would be valuable to our Parks and <br />Recreation department and other departments that deal with children, and our schools. He <br />suggested sending a letter to appropriate departments to see what inclusion practices they are <br />observing. <br />Chair Jacobs suggested to Ms. Noel that she do the same presentation to the Orange <br />County School Board and the County Commissioners can follow up with a letter to appropriate <br />agencies. Ultimately, it is up to the school system. <br />Marsha Ferree spoke on behalf of the Hillsborough Historical Society. She spoke about <br />the new display, commissioned by the historical society. She asked the Board's permission to <br />install it in the foyer of the old Orange County courthouse. The current display is in bad shape. <br />The historical society decided, with the recent renovation of the clock and tower that it would be <br />fitting to upgrade the display. She shaved the work in progress. She described the separate <br />panels of the display, which will be about the town clock. The display will feature photographs <br />taken by the late Quinton Patterson, and they plan to dedicate the display to him. It will be <br />ready for installation in September or early October. They are asking for permission to take <br />down the old display and replace it with the new one. It would be a gift to Orange County and to <br />the Town of Hillsborough. <br />The Board agreed to allow the Hillsborough Historical Society to replace the display in <br />the old Orange County Courthouse with the new one as described. <br />Jay Bryan, Vice Chair of the Orange County Planning Board, said that they have started <br />a small work group of Planning Board members and staff to look at farmland preservation and <br />rural character in a more specific way. This comes from a push by Brian Dobyns, who had done <br />a lot of work with conservation easements. This is informal, and they will report back to the <br />Planning Board. Chair Jacobs asked and Jay Bryan said that Rich Shaw from ERCD was a part <br />of the group. <br />Ellen McLamb said that she would like to dispute the 3-R fee on her assessed tax bill. <br />She said that her total bill was $2,500. She and her husband are on social security. She <br />checked with her neighbor's tax bill that sold for much less than her assessed tax value, and <br />they were paying $43.33 for heated square space, and she is paying $74.61. She was upset <br />about this. She said that it was her understanding that when the Board discussed the recycling <br />