Agenda - 09-20-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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9/. o/'7 / September 20, 1994 Dear County Commissioners : I urge you to support the proposed elementary school project for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools . The need for this school was considered "immediate" as long ago 1991 when I worked with the Orange County School Capital Needs Advisory Committee . At that time the district had already developed preliminary plans for a combined elementary-middle school . Based on specifications and recommendations from a large committee of both educators and citizens , this "dream school" was originally estimated to cost over $36 million. Members of the School Capital Needs Advisory Committee affirmed the immediate need and recommended several possible bond packages that included from $27-31 million to build an elementary and middle school in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district . As you all know, various financial, strategic and political considerations resulted in a bond package that did not include an elementary school for Chapel Hill-Carrboro--but the need did not disappear. Now, several years later, McDougle Middle School has been built with $14 million from the 1992 bond, and the school district is asking for $10 . 6 million to proceed with the elementary school . Even with several years of inflation intervening, the total cost of the elementary- middle school project has now been scaled down to less than $25 million. I understand your duty to ask why this school should cost more than some other schools recently built elsewhere. The simple answer is that it will be a better school . The state provides minimum standards for school buildings, and many districts adhere closely to them. I wonder though how any school system can provide its students with a quality education if its sights are set no higher than "the minimum. " If the minimum is all that is needed for school buildings, why not save money also with teachers who have only the minimum qualifications and minimum experience? Why not save money by teaching only the minimum state curriculum with minimum materials? Why aim any higher than for students to reach only minimum scores on state competency tests? Chapel Hill-Carrboro citizens have demonstrated time and time again, especially with regard to education, that they are not satisfied with "the minimum. " When the School Capital Needs Advisory Committee toured the newly opened New Hope Middle School in 1991, everyone there was justly proud of their model facility, but they did express one regret . Although many special facilities were built at New Hope, the classrooms were designed to be close