Minutes 02-25-2020 Schools - Laserfiche WebLink

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23 Rani Dasi said she is struggling with this conversation, because denying the existence of the pre-K kids is not really planning. She said the reality is that the pre-K kids will show up at the school doors and not including them in the count is the same as expelling them to make room for K-5. She said not including these students in the count hurts the schools, the planning, and will impact community values. Matthew Roberts clarified that the CAPS is where the school board is signing off that capacity exists, but asked if the Mebane subdivisions come to Orange County and ask it to sign a CAPS and the answer is no. He said OCS does not get the CAPS option, and schools are full. He said the waiting list needs to be reduced as most of those students qualify for NC pre-K and should not be turned away. He said if pre-K students are counted, not only will the program not be expanded, but will have to be reduced as Mebane is not involved in the CAPS. He said the first step is to count existing students. Commissioner Dorosin said he is hearing a majority of the BOCC favoring the counting of existing students, and the Chair will add it as an agenda item to vote on it. Rani Dasi said she hears and shares Commissioner Bedford's concerns about long term impacts, but she is hopeful that everyone can move forward to a position of shared understanding and a plan to possibly have a temporary conversation about CAPS because funding is coming. She said she would not want to subvert the current plan to do that. Steve Halkiotis said it is important to avoid legal battles. Chair Rich said this would be an agenda item on the next Board of County Commissioners' agenda. 4. School Districts' Climate Action Plans Patrick Abele reviewed the following information: Climate & Sustainability Summary— page 10 The district is proud of our sustainability efforts and is one of only several districts in NC to have a dedicated Sustainability Director on staff. Our sustainability efforts go beyond routine facility work such as mechanical, lighting, or other building improvements to include comprehensive programs such as seminars on being stewards of the environment, education programs and outreach efforts within schools and the community. Composting: Our cafeteria-composting program is part of our normal habit now in all elementary and middle schools. We have surpassed 1.4 million pounds diverted from the landfill. This process has reduced our carbon footprint by over 200 Metric Tons of CO2e. We now have classrooms asking for small compost bins and have organized dozens of worm composting classes. Schools and our compost hauler have reported that the process appears to be habit now as contamination levels are very low. We have given tours of our composting program to multiple local districts and have consulted with districts across the country. In early November, our Sustainability Director led an EPA webinar on cafeteria composting to over 300 participants from across the country. Projects and Academics Youth Water Academy: In partnership with Orange Water and Sewer (OWASA) seven high school Students participated by visiting OWASA once a week for 5 consecutive weeks. They saw first-hand and learned about the water treatment process, lab work, land management, infrastructure, engineering, sustainability and water governance. OWASA professionals led the sections. Year 2 is currently underway with 19 participants. Explorer Backpacks: As a result of funding a teacher's professional development, we rolled out the Explorer Backpack program at Seawell. The high quality backpacks packs are loaded