Orange County NC Website
18 <br /> <br />In recent years, Pre-K enrollment has been a topic of discussion with both school districts. <br />However, SAPFO has not been amended to include Pre-K in the membership and capacity <br />numbers. Therefore, Pre-K children are not included in the membership and capacity numbers <br />reported. <br /> <br />Chair Dorosin referred to the chart on last page that notes the class size ratio, and <br />asked if that is the new ratio. <br />Ashley Moncado said yes. <br />Chair Dorosin asked if the decreases in elementary school enrollment in both school <br />districts are the result of children attending charter schools. <br />Ashley Moncado said yes. <br />Commissioner McKee asked if there is a way to gather information from the Charter <br />schools, and their actual numbers, compared to their capacity, and how these figure into the <br />SAPFO numbers. He said charter schools are here to stay, and the County should figure out a <br />way to work with charter schools, so that they are not a detriment to the public schools. <br />Ashley Moncado said they do monitor the charters, but they do not have direct <br />information from the charters. <br />Commissioner Jacobs agreed and said the current tax bill is going to offer incentives to <br />send children to private schools. He said the Board should be more aggressive in reaching out <br />to the charters to gather their projections, as the charter schools are almost becoming a parallel <br />school system. <br />Chair Dorosin said the charters do not have any incentive to work with Orange County, <br />but it would not hurt to reach out to them, because they do impact the public school systems, <br />and their funding. <br />Commissioner McKee agreed with Chair Dorosin, and said it is important to <br />acknowledge the presence of charter schools, and reach out for the benefit of the whole <br />community. <br />Commissioner Price concurred with Commissioner McKee. <br />Chair Dorosin said he would be happy to reach out, but believes that charter schools <br />present a threat to traditional public schools. <br /> <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Burroughs, seconded by Commissioner Rich for <br />the Board to approve the November 15, 2017 Membership and Capacity numbers as submitted <br />by each school district as contained in attachment 1. <br /> <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> <br />e. Consideration of Approval of Additional Station for the Durham-Orange Light Rail <br />Transit Project at Blackwell and Mangum Streets in Downtown Durham <br />The Board considered voting to approve an additional station for the Durham-Orange <br />Light Rail Transit Project at Blackwell and Mangum Streets in downtown Durham. The Orange <br />County Transit Plan requires the Board of Commissioners to approve the addition or elimination <br />of any stations in the proposed system plan. This addition cannot increase the total cost of the <br />project and must be accommodated within the current budget. <br />Travis Myren presented this item. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: <br />At the Board’s November 20, 2017 regular meeting, GoTriangle staff introduced two potential <br />station changes to the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project. The first proposed change <br />would shift the Gateway station to the west in order to promote more economic development