Agenda - 09-17-2024; 8-a - Minutes

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14 1 his family. He said that the plan will likely increase traffic in the community, which will cause safety 2 issues. He said that the plan will increase cyclist and vehicle traffic accidents on Old 86. He said 3 it would add 2000 more cars in Hillsborough and he said a cyclist will be killed and children may 4 potentially be hit due to the increased traffic. He said if they must delay the bond for two years to 5 have 50 years of excellence, then please do so. 6 Carl King said he is a parent at Estes Hills. He said he appreciates the balance the Board 7 must take with the state starving the education budget and the county being placed in a position 8 with funds for the school system but no jurisdiction to make decisions for education. He said the 9 plans have changed over the last two weeks. He said the first plan was to rebuild Estes Hills. He 10 said the second plan is now to just close Estes Hills. He said that he knows the plan is in flux. He 11 asked the Board to work with the CHCCS district to align with the Town of Chapel Hill's Complete 12 Communities Plan. He said that there will be 400 units built in Arora and the other direction on 13 Estes Drive, there will be 300 more. He said they are now looking at taking away that school. He 14 said that they have had disruption with Estes Drive work, and they are grateful for that because 15 they tried for years to get sidewalks. 16 Felice Reddy said she is a parent at Estes Hills. She said that she is also a PTA member. 17 She said in her research, she looked into California schools and it has been shown that closures 18 exacerbate inequities. She said when schools are closed, it leads to disengagement in the 19 neighborhoods and then there are fewer homes purchased in the area. She said that enrollment 20 will go up, and there should be a school maintained or coming in the future. She said that also in 21 her research, she found best practices for school closures. She said they can provide ample 22 opportunities for engagement before, during, and after the closures. She said they should also 23 identify and share values for closures. She said that she agrees with Carl King's comments 24 regarding Chapel Hill's Complete Communities Plan. 25 Ryan Oakes said that his family lives close to McDougle and moved to their neighborhood 26 because it was in a school walk zone. He said that hiring bus drivers is very difficult right now, 27 and he doesn't understand how the district will find enough people to bus 2000 more children. He 28 expressed concerns about how the construction plans are proposed. He said there are thousands 29 of residents that will be misplaced and forced to commute to school. He said that he works in 30 transportation and that his biggest struggle is hiring enough CDL drivers. He said that major 31 renovation projects and concurrent school activities are not mutually exclusive. He said that this 32 company helped the Town of Holly Springs and all of this was done while children were in school 33 He said it is not necessary to tear a building down to fix the HVAC. He said that the commissioners 34 should ask the CHCCS Board of Education for the long-term financial viability and impacts of this 35 plan. 36 Anna Jefferson said she is a parent of a McDougle Elementary student. She said the 37 consultants operated within their scope of work, but that the plan was not a holistic assessment. 38 She said there is a misalignment between the investments that have been made in infrastructure 39 and climate action commitments. She said that there is a bus driver shortage, and it almost 40 upended the school system only one year ago. She said that there is equity and mental health 41 impacts for students. She said that they have not talked about walking and biking to school and 42 the impact that has on a child's development. She said that there was an article in the Washington 43 Post about why kids do not bike to school. She said that school districts relocated their schools 44 on the edges of communities in the 1970s. She said that it is a concern now. She said that she 45 wants to help support the schools but cannot get to "yes" unless there is a different plan. She 46 asked the commissioners to hold the purse strings until there has been meaningful engagement 47 with the communities. 48 Sheila Flack said her children attend McDougle Elementary. She said there is a strong 49 sense of community and focus on consideration of environment in which schools are placed. She 50 said the schools are the core for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. She said that proximity to the 51 neighborhood they serve and other factors critical to our children have not been considered. She