Agenda - 03-25-2002 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3-22-02; 8:08AM;Ch. Hill / Carrboro ;919 969 2474 # 3% 4 CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO CITY SCHOOLS Lincoln Center, Merritt Mill Road Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516 Telephone: (919) 967-8211 Neil G. Pedersen Nettie Collins-Hart, Assistant Superintendent Superintendent for Instructional Services Raymond J. Reitz Steve Scroggs, Assistant Superintendent Chief Technology Officer for Support Services TO: John Link Orange County Manager FROM: Neil G. Pedersen Superintendent RE: Response to March 15,2002 Memo from County Manager DATE: March 19,2002 In your memo of March 15,2002 you asked me to be specific about the reasons for the School Board giving consideration to constructing smaller high schools. "Is [it] driven by the perceived lack of financial resources for constructing a larger high school,by preference for the educational model,or some other factors?" (Let me clarify that at this time, "smaller"high school means one with approximately 750 students.) I introduced the idea of constructing smaller high schools based upon the recommendations in reports that have been released for the past several years on high school reform. I would be happy to prepare background information on this topic for the County Commissioners and/or provide information on where these reports can be accessed (some of this information has been shared in earlier memos that have been shared with the County Manager). Smaller high schools lend themselves to the establishment of a much greater sense of community that oftentimes is missing in large,comprehensive high schools. Research indicates that smaller schools are associated with greater academic achievement,fewer discipline problems,better attendance, improved interpersonal relationships,and greater participation in the school's extra-curricular and co-curricular activities. As the move to smaller high schools progresses,many districts are meeting this challenge by establishing small schools within existing,large high school structures. No district can afford to abandon the investment that it has in these large facilities. In the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, we have a wonderful opportunity to actually design a facility that is consistent with these program considerations. The second reason for considering a smaller high school is related to available resources. The need for a third high school was discussed with the Capital Needs Task Force and the BOCC during the process for deciding what would be in the 2001 bond referendum,but the BOCC did not choose to include this request in the total bond package. This is understandable because of the limitations on the County's indebtedness and the School Board's priority on funding two elementary schools. Nevertheless,projections at the time indicated that high schools would reach a 110%LOS by 2005-06 and revised