Agenda - 04-19-2016 - 6-a - Minutes

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11 1 Commissioner Burroughs said there are construction standards negotiated between the 2 Districts and the County. She said it may be time to review these standards but that should be 3 done separately from, or concurrent to, this bond process. 4 Commissioner Pelissier said the priorities are different from questioning the costs. 5 Commissioner Dorosin said there is a bigger issue that this conversation has revealed, 6 which is the nature of communication between the Board of County Commissioners and the 7 school boards. He said there is a sense from the school boards that the County does not trust 8 them, and a sense that the County questions why the schools boards should always be trusted. 9 He said there is history there but this current Board of County Commissioners is starting to 10 understand that the issues, on which everyone is focused, are interrelated. 11 Commissioner Dorosin said both school boards kept the Board of County 12 Commissioners informed, but BOCC feedback was not necessarily desired. He said everyone 13 must work together in sync. He said this bond is only going to fund a piece of all the schools' 14 needs and they all have a different set of ideals as to how this process should go forward. He 15 said, moving forward, there should be a real commitment to have dialogue about these 16 projects. 17 Commissioner Dorosin disagreed with Commissioner Pelissier, and said the goal of 18 capacity should not be scaled back. 19 Commissioner Jacobs said the school construction standards tried to address a wide 20 variety of issues. 21 Commissioner Jacobs said he had been saying all along that he would like to challenge 22 assumptions. He said the centralized Pre-K program is a major leap, and the BOCC has not 23 fully discussed it. He said CHCCS School Board member Margaret Samuels is an expert in this 24 area, and is a valuable resource. He said a conversation about cost versus capacity versus 25 safety needs to occur, and he is not sure why the safety issues in phase 3 are not in phase 1. 26 He said the Board of Commissioners has not had this conversation. 27 Commissioner Jacobs said the Board has a work session on April 12th and he 28 suggested inviting the facilities staff to attend. He said this conversation would occur prior to 29 the joint meeting with the schools at the end of April. He said he was disappointed in the 30 consultant proposal since it would not come to the BOCC until after it adjourned for the summer 31 break. 32 Commissioner Jacobs said he would be glad to have conversations with school staff or 33 board members about this since $120 million is going to be spent, and he wants to feel 34 comfortable about his fiduciary responsibilities. 35 Commissioner Rich said she liked some of Commissioner Jacob's suggestions. 36 Commissioner Rich referred to the issue of communication and said she is trying to 37 meet with a school board, or administration, member monthly. She said the schools use scare 38 tactics with parents, and conversations need to occur before the school boards send out panic 39 emails during the budget seasons. She said most of this information is incorrect and she would 40 like to change this process. She said everyone should be a partner in this process. She 41 encouraged the schools and the BOCC to be open to being questioned without being 42 defensive. 43 Commissioner Burroughs encouraged Commissioner Rich's practice of one-on-one 44 meetings with school related personnel. She referred to safety issues, saying the County has 45 two school districts, which reflect two different cultures around safety and School Resource 46 Officers. She said she agreed about having further discussion in a work session. 47 Commissioner Pelissier agreed with the work session suggestion. She said this is a 48 communication challenge not a communication problem, and the bond issue is a whole new 49 phenomenon with which neither the Board of County Commissioners nor the school boards 50 have experience.