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85 <br />Attachment B <br />Date: April 22, 2014 <br />To: Barry Jacobs, Chair of the Board of Orange County Commissioners <br />From: Jamezetta Bedford, Chair of the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools Board of Education <br />Re: Older Facility Needs <br />On April 17, 2014, the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools Board unanimously approved <br />recommendations to address the facility needs at our 10 oldest schools. The recommendations <br />would correct facility deficiencies, address life /safety code and handicap accessibility concerns, <br />and improve safety and security. The recommendations also increase capacity at the elementary <br />and high school levels. The Board approved sharing our facility needs and requests financial <br />support to implement the recommendations. <br />The recommended plans provide additional student capacity and would change Schools <br />Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance ( SAPFO) projections. The added capacity would delay the <br />need for Elementary School #12 and the high school expansion beyond our current 10 -year <br />SAFPO projection. The corrective work and added school capacity must be started soon to avoid <br />the SAPFO projected need for another elementary school in 2020. Our district continues to grow <br />and to implement the recommendations at the 10 locations will require careful planning and <br />project phasing. <br />Based on recent discussions about the timing of a potential bond referendum, the Board of <br />Education is very concerned that the opportunity to make facility improvements and increase <br />capacity may be in jeopardy. Development of construction documents and local regulatory <br />approval requires approximately 18 months and bidding and construction can take another 18 to <br />24 months. <br />Since it is uncertain when a future bond referendum might occur and recognizing the necessity to <br />move forward with corrective work and increase capacity before we need another elementary <br />school, at our April 10, 2014 meeting, our board unanimously approved requesting $750,000 in <br />preliminary renovation planning funds. The preliminary renovation planning funds would be <br />used to develop architectural and engineering plans and construction documents to correct <br />conditions and increase capacity in one of the projects. The preliminary planning funds would <br />ensure that work could start immediately ( "shovel ready ") after a successful bond approval. <br />Depending on the date of the proposed bond referendum, we may also need to request that the <br />county fund a project separate and in advance of the referendum. <br />Lincoln Center. 750 S. Merritt Mill Road - Chapel Hill, NC 27516 -2878 - (919) 967 -8211 - www.chccs.kl2.nc,US <br />