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p ei A=V �/I7 <br /> ALLEN SPALT <br /> 300 JAMES STREET <br /> CARRBORO, NORTH CAROLINA 27510 <br /> H: (919) 967-3054 W: (919) 967-1886 <br /> December 15, 1987 <br /> To the Orange County Commissioners: <br /> Chair Marshall and members of the Orange County Board <br /> of Commissioners. My name is Allen Spalt . My family and I <br /> live at 300 James Street in Carrboro. We have two children <br /> in the Chapel Hill -Carrboro City Schools; Susan is a <br /> long-term employee of the system. <br /> I come tonight to ask you to give consideration to the <br /> Chapel Hill-Carrboro district's needs for capital <br /> improvements as detailed in the October 19, 1987. five-year <br /> "Master Plan for School Facilities" . Total cost is about <br /> 27.5 million dollars. I understand that the Orange County <br /> school system has requests for about $12 million . The <br /> county also has substantial capital needs. We are concerned <br /> that the County Commissioners may be considering a bond <br /> package in the range of $20 million . This amount would fund <br /> less than half of the Identified needs. That Is not enough . <br /> As a member of the Long-Term Facilities Planning <br /> Committee for the City Schools last year ,.,,I:Lexperienced the <br /> difficulty of predicting future enrollment . - In fact , <br /> despite our best efforts, the committee significantly <br /> under-estimated this year's enrollment . In the past the <br /> school population has not always followed the general growth <br /> of the area. It seems as if the schools are now- reaping the <br /> effects of the whirlwind of recent growth over which they <br /> have no control . <br /> I am also aware of the difficulty of arriving at <br /> reliable estimates for the costs of improvements. We worked <br /> diligently last year with local and state experts to make <br /> the proposals which form the core of the current plan . It <br /> is a good long-term plan . The system proposes to add room <br /> at the high school for the ninth grade, renovate the junior <br /> highs into middle schools, and upgrade and expand the <br /> elementary schools to accommodate anticipated growth . It is <br /> sound educationally , capitalizes on a rare opportunity to <br /> shift the sixth and ninth grades, and makes good use of <br /> facilities. <br /> The proposal is based on the best available predictions <br /> for school needs. It takes into account the substantial <br /> impact on capacity of the state's Basic Education Plan . It <br /> includes almost $3 million identified for "phase II" or <br />