Orange County NC Website
I Commissioner McKee asked how the move back of Cedar Ridge is valid if Mebane is <br />2 not providing SAPFO numbers. <br />3 Paul Laughton said this has been on the table for discussion for 2 or 3 years, but this <br />4 movement is based on the SAPFO numbers. <br />5 Craig Benedict said even though Mebane is not part of the formal SAPFO, when <br />6 children do show up from the Mebane communities, they are counted. He said projections are <br />7 historical and actual, so if there is an uptick in enrollment from development on the Orange <br />8 County side of Mebane, those projections will be modified. He said there is a "ghost" count of <br />9 the development to see if children are showing up as a result of this growth. He said these <br />10 projections are very sensitive, and they are closely monitored. <br />11 Commissioner McKee said his question was based on the amount of the jump. <br />12 Commissioner Price said she is still not clear on the monitoring of Mebane. She asked <br />13 where this shows up in the CIP and whether it is possible to include a footnote. <br />14 Craig Benedict said projections are based on the children who show up at the schools; <br />15 so Mebane is being counted from that standpoint. He said projections are taken based off of <br />16 what has happening over the last 5 or 10 years, so Mebane's growth is counted. <br />17 Commissioner Price said parents and teachers were saying that classes at Cedar Ridge <br />18 were being held in hallways. She questioned if this indicates the need for classroom additions <br />19 sooner rather than later. <br />20 Commissioner Gordon said people talk about how certain schools are overcrowded. <br />21 She said the trigger for building more capacity comes when the level goes up for all of the <br />22 schools in that category. She said Chapel Hill has a lot of Elementary schools and some are <br />23 overcrowded while others are not. She said it is the responsibility of the school system to <br />24 redistrict. She said the same is true for OCS, and in this case Orange High School is not being <br />25 used to capacity, while Cedar Ridge is at capacity. She said when the capacity of both high <br />26 schools reaches 110 percent, SAPFO kicks in. She said the rationale is to have the space <br />27 ready by the time you reach 110 percent. <br />28 Commissioner Price suggested that the Board bring this to the attention of the schools, <br />29 and hope it will be corrected. <br />30 Chair Jacobs said yes. He noted that it is challenging to redistrict. <br />31 Commissioner Price asked about the schools in Orange County where the students are <br />32 in trailers, and she questioned the safety of this. <br />33 Chair Jacobs said it is part of the school comprehensive plan. <br />34 Commissioner Dorosin referred to page 91. He questioned, given what staff said about <br />35 the timetable for new schools, what the money listed as new school allotments for years 1 <br />36 through 5 would be used for. <br />37 Paul Laughton said that is strictly pay as you go funds and lottery proceeds. <br />38 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the Board has any control over how this is spent. <br />39 Paul Laughton said this is part of the request in the CIP document. He said the schools <br />40 have shown how they would like to spend this on repairs and replacements. He said there are <br />41 budget amendments every year regarding the lottery funds. He said staff receives quarterly <br />42 notification of the money available in the system, and then the schools can request the money. <br />43 He said this is then brought to the Board as a budget amendment each time. <br />44 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the only thing that would show up on their itemized <br />45 list would be new school construction items, and the rest shows up in the CIPs submitted by the <br />46 schools. <br />47 Paul Laughton said yes. <br />48 Chair Jacobs said when schools have a leak in the roof, the decision of when to fix it is <br />49 up to them. <br />50 Paul Laughton said yes. <br />