Agenda - 06-01-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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8 1 He said part of the review assessed the need to expand capacity on campuses while doing 2 these projects. He said the district has looked at the 6 oldest elementary schools in the district, 3 and some have very low SAPFO capacity. He said the district is also considering renovations 4 that do not address capacity, and these projects range from $5-7 million per school. He said 5 another option is to renovate just one school, in a more comprehensive way. He said CHCCS is 6 looking at best options in order to coordinate renovations for campuses that may need to be 7 open while the construction takes place. He said CHCCS did not want to draw down dollars 8 that it was 12 months away from utilizing, and was budgeting the projects for 2024, because 9 they were not aware of this additional supplemental funding opportunity and were anticipating a 10 future bond. He said when renovating an older facility, unexpected things will be found, so they 11 want to make sure they have a detailed scope of work before going into the renovations. 12 Will Atherton asked if CHCCS had any ideas about the flex space, in order to manage 13 students during construction, as it is something both school districts would need. 14 Patrick Abele said the issue in Chapel Hill is space and lack of land. He said there are 15 no elementary school reserved spaces, with the exception of the Greene Tract. He said it would 16 cost between $12 and $20 million to facilitate a swing space, which CHCCS does not have at 17 this point. He said CHCCS has also discussed creating swing space by increasing limited 18 capacity during renovations one building at a time, by moving students in a rolling fashion, from 19 one school to another. 20 Eric Allen, Facilities Management Executive Director, said the other thing that could be 21 done is bringing in temporary modular buildings, while renovation is done, to relocate students 22 temporarily. He said he has torn down buildings over the summer, and put in a modular 23 campus. He said they would just have to make sure the buildings connect and keep the site 24 safe. He said the jurisdictions would have to be flexible when it comes to inspections in order to 25 be able to do that with zoning. He said CHCCS is lacking land, so there are not many options. 26 Commissioner Fowler said it sounds like CHCCS is planning only one or two projects 27 that can be done per year in order to still house students. She asked when CHCCS foresees 28 being able to work on schools after 2023-2024, so the Commissioners can plan for funding. 29 Patrick Abele said the year he was referencing was around the 2024 timeframe, but he 30 is not sure if it would match based on the current bond, plus the new supplemental deferred 31 maintenance funding. He said this may push the possibility of a bond and what year that would 32 end up in. He said he would like to see it around 2024, so as the projects are finished, they can 33 move right to the next phase. He said CHCCS tabled redistricting, due to the pandemic, but 34 part of the review will be to match up the reassignment plan proposal with construction 35 schedules, so they work hand in hand. He said CHCCS will be working on reassignment 36 options next year. 37 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the reassignment or redistricting can alleviate some of 38 the capacity issues, or just make space for the construction. 39 Patrick Abele said it can address both. He said reassignment has not happened in 40 CHCCS in over 10 years. He said spot reassignments have occurred. He said in order to meet 41 the needs of growth, it is vital to assess reassignment for capacity purposes. He said the class 42 size reduction mandate has really hurt the schools, because where they thought they would be 43 able to create additional space has been lost. He said those reductions take place this school 44 year, and there is no waiver, so next year will feel full effect of class size reductions. He said 45 CHCCS anticipates reassignment will be necessary for Kindergarten through third grade. 46 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there are guidelines for how often reassignment should 47 be done. He said 10 years seems like a long time. 48 Patrick Abele said sometimes it is never done, sometimes it is every 20 years, or it can 49 be done every year, like in Wake County. He said it is one of the tools districts use to assist the 50 capital needs in schools. He said 10 years was probably too long, based on growth in Chapel 51 Hill, but no there is no best practice.