Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
CHAPEL HILUCARRBORO SCHOOL DISTRICT <br /> SCHOOL FACILITIES PLANNING <br /> March 21, 1995 <br /> Present Situation <br /> With the influx of some 360 students per year from 1990 to 1995 and an inadequate rate of new <br /> school construction, the present facilities are being utilized over their design capacity. At the <br /> Ephesus Road school where my wife and I tutor, we started the school year at 634 students, <br /> and as of this week are at 686. We're now up to five trailers, holding classes in the library as <br /> well as the atrium, and last week I found classes in the lunch room. <br /> Beyond the approved high school and the McDougle school to open August 1996, there are no <br /> funded elementary or middle schools on the drawing boards. New schools seem to be planned <br /> at the 650-700 capacity level. You'll note that with 360 new students added each year, the <br /> system needs the equivalent of a new school every two years even to stay at today's <br /> overcrowded level. <br /> Commentary <br /> The growing need for additional schools is apparent. The investment in a new elementary <br /> school is about $14 million...a new middle school will cost some $18 million for a total of$32 <br /> million and a capacity of 1350 students. The average capital investment for each new student <br /> is, therefore, $23,700. <br /> To deal with the problem of building and financing the construction of these urgently needed <br /> facilities calls for an objective, careful examination of the true impact of new home construction <br /> on student population growth. Developers are required to build roads, bridges, sidewalks, <br /> sewage and water systems to avoid having the general public picking up the capital coasts. <br /> The same should apply to the added school facilities these developments provoke. For <br /> example, if three new homes bring two additional students into the system, the three homes <br /> should cover the actual capital outlay of two times $23,700 divided by three, or $15,800. <br /> Today's impact fee is a mere $750. <br /> Recommendation <br /> I urge the County Commissioners meet with authorities of Chapel Hill and Carrboro as well as <br /> the local School Board and school officials to quickly measure the level of today's <br /> overcrowding, agree upon a forecast of student population growth through 2002 and establish <br /> a realistic building program. Secondly, after reviewing the true impact of new home <br /> construction on the school system, hold public hearings to arrive at a new, fair impact fee that <br /> more accurately assesses those costs to new home construction. <br /> Prepared by: Robert P. Foley <br />