Orange County NC Website
Commissioner Foushee made reference to OHS and asked if there is a problem with air <br />quality in that school as well as the moisture problems. Shirley Carraway said that they <br />continue to have air quality assessments in all of the schools, and OHS has some air quality <br />issues. Commissioner Foushee asked if the CIP would include requests for funding to move <br />towards mitigation of these issues. Shirley Carraway said that they try to deal with this in part of <br />the recurring capital. <br />Commissioner Foushee asked if there were any needs for technology and Shirley <br />Carraway said that they have tried to use the money available and divide it up. She said that <br />the school board usually commits about $6QQ,000 of the CIP toward upgrading technology. <br />This was not done last year because the money was used for Gravelly Hill. <br />Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Mebane area and asked if it was included <br />in the SAPFO reports. Commissioner Gordon said that Mebane should be part of the SAPFO <br />reports. Superintendent Carraway said that Mebane has agreed to share information with <br />County staff about projects, but it is not as good as being involved in the SAPFO (Schools <br />Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance). <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she would like the same age of facilities breakdown of <br />schools from CHCCS that OCS has done. <br />Chair Carey agreed with Commissioner Gordon about the information per schoal. He <br />said that he would like some indication of priority on the list of projects for each school. <br />Chair Carey asked about the replacement plan for technology and Superintendent <br />Carraway said that there is a plan for replacement on a rotating basis. <br />Superintendent Carraway pointed out that the "Total" page was missing, and it is about <br />$11 million. The total for the critical needs is $1,974,QQQ. <br />Chair Carey asked how much of the $1.6 million was used for startup of Gravelly and <br />Superintendent Carraway said $8QQ,QQQ. <br />Chair Carey asked about the proposal to merge Hillsborough Elementary and Central <br />Elementary. Superintendent Carraway said that this is not a merger, but the Board of Education <br />approved "exploring" the possibility of combining the two schools. A committee was approved <br />that would look at the next steps to this exploration. There has not been any approval to <br />combine the schools, but just to explore the possibility. One of the scenarios for combining the <br />schools might be to make Central apre-K to 3`d grade, and Hillsborough would be a 3-5 school. <br />She said that the free and reduced lunch rate at Central is the highest in the schoal <br />district and at Hillsborough it is the lowest. The demographics are quite different between each <br />school, and the board is simply exploring if it might be feasible and if the students would benefit <br />by combining the schools. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked about the First School at Central Elementary and if they <br />are going forward regardless of the possible combining and Superintendent Carraway said yes. <br />Budget Director Donna Coffey said that the student projection numbers are based on <br />historical growth. It is expected that once the historical numbers start reflecting the Mebane <br />growth, there will be a rise in student projections. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked about Mebane and the SAPFO and Geof Gledhill said that <br />the legality of SAPFO is at risk when CAPS are not going to be issued in the OCS and Mebane <br />is not included. Mebane has not signed the MOU for SAPFO but students in Mebane's <br />jurisdiction are included in the SAPFO reports. <br />2. Capital Funding and Budget Update <br />Laura Blackmon made reference to the historical information at the Commissioners' <br />places (with pie chart) entitled, "Orange County Long-Range Capital Funding Since 1988 Totals <br />$488.1 million." This chart shows how much in capital funding has gone to school projects <br />versus County projects. <br />