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74 # 4! <br /> 3-22-02; 8:08AM;Ch. Hill / Carrboro ;919 969 24 ' 4 . <br /> 2 <br /> projections based on 2001-02 enrollment indicate that this level will be reached in 2003-04. <br /> By 2005 our high schools will be more than 750 students over capacity and more than <br /> 1000 students over by 2007. The Board of Education and the BOCC have a joint <br /> responsibility for providing sufficient capacity for all of the students in the district. To this <br /> end, the CHCCS administration has made an effort to combine revenues from a variety of <br /> funding sources to pool enough funds to construct a high school facility. We believe that <br /> the$15.2 million of potentially available funds is minimally adequate to construct a small <br /> high school facility, perhaps providing for the possibility of adding on to the facility in the <br /> future. <br /> I should add that Board members are very concerned that a school of this size may <br /> only be a stop gap measure. Our current plan calls for a second smaller high school to be <br /> constructed prior to 2010 to keep up with projected enrollments. Of course, at this time <br /> there is no provision for funding a second small school. I believe that the Board would be <br /> open to considering a larger high school with provisions for dividing it up into schools <br /> within schools if there were sufficient funding. If the BOCC believes that there could be <br /> additional funds for a 1000 student high school (a 1000 student capacity high school will <br /> cost approximately$28—30 million),I believe that the Board of Education would want to <br /> consider such a project. <br /> The third consideration relates to available sites. The Board of Education has <br /> expressed a preference for a third high school being sited in the southern end of the school <br /> district. Both current high schools are located in the northern portion of the district. An <br /> analysis of projected high school students shows large numbers in the south with no school <br /> in their vicinity. Parents complain about long rides to and from CHHS and ECHHS. A <br /> search for high school sites in the southern end of the district turned up no sites that could <br /> support a 1500 student high school. At least one site can support a school of <br /> approximately 750 students, although its athletic facilities may be limited. Although site <br /> availability is not driving this decision, it is a real factor that must be considered. The <br /> Board of Education did express a willingness to consider a northern site if the southern site <br /> did not work out. <br /> These are the three overriding considerations that we have discussed for <br /> constructing a smaller high school,in what I consider to be the priority order. <br /> Cc: Board of Education <br />