Minutes 02-25-2020 Schools - Laserfiche WebLink

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19 • SAPFO and Capacity OCS Chair Atherton said he would appreciate not rehashing the data that has already been reviewed, but would like to get to the discussion of counting pre-K. He asked if the County has reviewed the proposals that have been presented for counting pre-K CHCCS Chair Wolf said CHCCS has pre-k kids in the classroom, but they are not counted in SAPFO. She said everyone feels pre-K can be a very important aspect of school readiness and equity, and CHCCS wants to be very reasonable, but also be realistic about what they need SAPFO to show. She said it is complicated, but CHCCS really wants to count the pre-K kids as they are in the classrooms, and thus other children cannot go in those same spots. She said the legislative class size mandates will make this a critical issue. OCS Chair Atherton said this issue affects how OCS will redistrict, and OCS wants to collaborate to get everyone on the same page. He said the school board has given a couple of proposals and is looking for feedback. Amy Fowler said many pre-K students are required to be there, and if SAPFO is a planning tool, it is important to consider the reality of the situation. Chair Rich asked if the number of required pre-K students is known. Patrick Abele said there are 57 students in CHCCS (page 56). OCS staff said 36 students in OCS. Commissioner Dorosin agreed with counting the actual number of people in the buildings, and asked if the pros and cons of considering percentages versus actual counts. He said he is unclear as to why this was left out of SAPFO in the beginning. OCS Chair Atherton said the first way OCS proposed to proceed, was to go ahead and do a hard number per district, but OCS did not put any bounds on it. He said if the school district determined to expand pre-K exponentially, it would run out of capacity, which would be unfair for planning purposes. OCS Chair Atherton said OCS then considered a second proposal. He said today they are at 144, and asked what would happen if they meet all of their needs and expected growth. He said OCS came up with the number of 10% of the total elementary school population. He said having a percentage allows the schools to plan accordingly when are looking at re- districting. He said a percentage could be hard wired into SAPFO, and if there was a desire to go higher, all bodies would need to be in agreement. Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the 10% would be 10% of a school's capacity allocated to pre-K. OCS Chair Atherton said OCS considered the total elementary population across the district. He said if capacity were added at a school, the number equivalent of the 10% would also increase accordingly. He said this would be the same if a new school were to be built. He said universal pre-K would work differently. Commissioner Dorosin asked if the 10% can be compared to today's actual numbers. CHCCS Chair Wolf said for CHCCS that 10% would provide a lot of room to grow. She said CHCCS currently has 267 pre-K students, and 10% would allow for 500 students. Commissioner Dorosin clarified that in CHCCS it is currently under 5% and OCS is around 4%-6%. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if there are any other school districts that have blazed a trail. OCS Chair Atherton said SAPFO is not common in most of North Carolina. Commissioner Marcoplos said he has to imagine that someone, somewhere, has tried to figure this out. OCS Chair Atherton asked if there is a reservation to counting the pre-K students.