Agenda - 04-25-2006-1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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should be presented at the next Collaboration meeting so that action could be taken sooner rather than later. Mr. English asked for more information about OCS's security concerns. He pointed out that Grady Brown and New Hope elementary schools are both fenced. Dr. Caraway explained that those fences were installed as a matter of routine school design, but that other OCS schools are unfenced, open to community use, and used very much. She said that OCS and the County Recreation and Parks Department needed to "put all of the information on the table" as they work together, including costs, school designs, security concerns and access concerns. Society has changed, Dr. Carraway added. People no longer see school facilities as being their own. Instead, some people who gain access "tear the buildings up," and designs need to take that — as well as the community's interest in recreation - - into consideration. Mr. Jacobs said that community leaders needed to educate people about school facilities, that indeed schools do belong to everyone and therefore everyone has a responsibility for taking care of them. Mr. Jacobs asked the school officials if the districts use SportsPlex. Dr. Pedersen and Dr. Carraway each replied that their swim teams use the SportsPlex. Both said that their respective high school athletic departments arrange for whatever fees are charged by SportsPlex, and noted that the hours available to the schools were "odd." Ms. Wilkerson added that the Dolphins use SportsPlex during intercession (paid for from their own budget). Dr. Carraway added that OCS uses the facility for Project Graduation. Dr. Pedersen clarified, in response to a question from Ms. Stuckey, that CHCCS playgrounds — when not in use by elementary school after school programs -- are always open to the public, and that -- except for at the high schools -- the Districts' athletic fields also are always available. Ms. Stuckey asked if the CHCCS athletic facilities have been vandalized. Mr. Scroggs said that some off - the -road vehicle drivers have torn up some middle school fields after it has rained, but that he is more concerned about people walking their dogs (and not cleaning up after them) on the running tracks. Dr. Pedersen said that vandalism had been an issue at Scroggs Elementary. "The Town erected a locked, ro -foot fence at Scroggs in response to some problems," he recalled. Ms. Murrell asked the officials to appreciate the importance of community recreation in the battle against childhood obesity. She said that federal funding is available for recreation through some of the federal educational grant programs, and pointed out that community recreation programs are especially needed during the summer when the schools' physical education programs are not offered. "Recreation programs for young people should not stop when the schools out," she said. County/Schools Collaboration Meeting (April 8, 2005) 10