Agenda - 03-21-2006-5p - Laserfiche WebLink

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DRAFT 6 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 2.3 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 3.3 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 4.3 44 45 46 47 48 49 George McFarley said that it is School and Community Relations and they did not look at moving the house and placing it in the place of the athletic fields, He said that the intent with the tennis courts was making facilities available to the public, Tennis courts are an issue in the County and they saw a collaboration opportunity. He also said that at no time is there any intent to intermingle students from Stanback with the students from the alternative school.. He clarified that the full expansion of the alternative school is for 100 students. He made reference to the type of students that would be attending and said that a lot of people think that these are bad children or juvenile delinquents and that the next step will be jail.. He said that it is very far from this. He said that there are students that learn better in anon-traditional environment, and they are finding that there is not encugh space to meet the needs of all children. There will be same students with disciplinary issues in the traditional classrooms, but there will also be an opportunity to meet needs of students that do not learn as well in an 18-20-person classroom. Chair Jacobs asked how closely tied is phase 1 to phase 2, George McFarley said that there is no plan to expand this facility within the next five to ten years, Commissioner Gordon asked about the environmental assessment on the 1.4 acres and that it does not relate to the whole site, but the County Commissioners are still being asked to approve the entire tract. Robert Davis said that under the County Environmental Impact Ordinance, there is an environmental assessment and then the environmental impact statement, which is required if a finding is made of significant impact,. This is 40,000 square feet of disturbed area. If it did not reach the 40,000 square foot level, then there would not be a requirement far the EIS,. Chair Jacobs said that it could be added as a condition of approval. David Logan asked if there would be an environmental assessment prior to phase 2 being approved and if there wculd be a public hearing. Tam Clark said that Dr, McFarley indicated that there would be no intermingling of students. He said that his mother-in-law was told last week that everybody would use the softball field but today Dr. McFarley told him that only Stanback would use the softball field. He also understands that the tennis courts would be shared by the public, the alternative students, and the Stanback students. He does not see how you can share the same facilities and not have intermingling concerns, Commissioner Gordon said that she is stn~ck that most of the public's concern has to do with the process ar impact on surrounding property, .)ohn Link asked George McFarley to elaborate on the types of students that wculd ga tc the alternative school, because it sounded like same of the students would be the same that wculd go to the middle college. He asked for a delineation between these two types of students. David Hunt swore in Dr. Shirley Carraway, Superintendent, Orange County Schools. Shirley Carraway said that their first priority is to have a location for their alternative students, The addition of the athletic facilities was provided in an effort to meet some of the needs relating to the public being able to have access tc athletic facilities. This is not the school board's first priority, The softball field was something that had been talked about with same of the Stanback parents in years past. She said that they still have a commitment tc ensure that the students at the alternative site will not at any time interact with the students at Stanback, Regarding the type of student, the school proper would serve students as an alternative to long- term suspension. The two areas of students that it has not been able to serve because of limited space has been the students who need an alternative setting and students coming out of facilities (group homes, etc.) and transitioning into the public school. This is very different from middle college, which is designed for students that want to move faster than the normal school.