Minutes 04-28-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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over Driver's Education, costing families $400-$600 per child to participate. He said if that course were followed, there will be children with financial means having the advantage of being able to drive earlier, but there will also be children driving without licenses leading to accidents. Chair Halkiotis said he believed at some point the State will pass along the costs for the yellow school buses to the Counties which are a significant financial burden. Chair Halkiotis said he believed that there will be more and more of these types of challenges. Chair Kelly said that many students are opting out of driving at a younger age in the CHCCS. He said it is an interesting phenomenon. Commissioner Rich said she also knows children who do not drive and prefer the bus. She expressed concern for the students who want to drive but are "locked out" because they cannot afford the fee for the course. Chair Kelly said they will do their best to answer Commissioner Price's question. 3. Discussion of a November 2016 Bond Referendum for School Capital Needs Bonnie Hammersley said the BOCC discussed and approved the scheduling of a November 2016 bond referendum totaling $125 million for school capital needs and supported the concept of a Bond Education Committee. She said this committee's composition, appointment process, and public outreach responsibilities will be discussed and decided on at a future meeting. Bonnie Hammersley said there is no immediate financial impact for this discussion tonight, and she recommends for the Boards to discuss the issue of a November 2016 Bond Referendum, discuss the Schools' older assessment findings, and provide direction to staff, as appropriate. Chair McKee said the BOCC vote was to move forward with the single issue of school capital needs. Chair Kelly asked if the intent of the bond is for older schools. Chair McKee said the discussion moved across the board. He said older schools and issues of safety and design of the older schools were discussed. He said the BOCC did focus strongly on renovations of existing schools in order to increase school capacity. He said the conversation mentioned the possibility of pushing back the need for new schools by renovating existing buildings. Commissioner Price said there are numerous safety concerns with many school campuses not having appropriate security for the times in which we live. Chair Kelly asked, for the purpose of educating the public, if there is a central theme around older schools and their needs (safety, code violations, mold, capacity, etc), or are they thinking about adding school wings or building new buildings. Chair McKee said since the Commissioners did not establish the composition for the task of a bond education committee and the November 2016 is 19 months away, there is time for the BOCC to discuss the components of this bond. He said this needs to be a collaborative effort with both School Boards to decide the specifics of the bond. Chair Halkiotis said their Board had an opportunity to listen to their staff, school by school, regarding what their facility priorities are going to be. He said most of their schools are at least 55 years old. He said both of the High Schools are over capacity. He said Cedar Ridge High School (CRHS) is 215 students over capacity and Orange High School is only 13 seats under its full capacity. He said the CRHS academic wing is a priority. He said there is some room with the elementary and middle schools. Chair Halkiotis said safety within OCS is a top priority, citing Grady Brown Elementary School as a particularly egregious example. He said renovations are critically important: bathroom facilities, HVAC systems, roofing systems, unfunded state mandates, antiquated science wings, etc.