Orange County NC Website
28 <br /> Slide #3 <br /> MAJOR PROJECT PLANNING ADDENDUM <br /> • On October 81", Board asked to see incorporation of <br /> ideas from the 2008 Policy on Planning and Funding <br /> School Capital projects into a policy. <br /> • This incorporates those as well as concepts that have <br /> been promoted in Board meetings and School Capital <br /> Needs Workgroup. <br /> • Goal of this document is to communicate expectations <br /> and priorities of BoCC to School Districts and <br /> residents. <br /> • Can be used while larger decisions around <br /> Construction Standards and Joint Project Management <br /> are still in deliberation. <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> NORTH CAROUNA <br /> Chair Bedford said she appreciates this slide. <br /> Commissioner Richards asked if the point of this policy is to be a guide while other <br /> standards and policies are being figured out. <br /> Travis Myren said this would be a long-term planning guideline with themes from the <br /> Woolpert Report and will stand beside more detailed school construction standards. <br /> Commissioner Richards said community usage of school space is an important payback <br /> for the community for the investment they are making in the schools, and the school districts have <br /> had the ability to say no. She said this needs to be thought about because communities invest in <br /> schools and schools can be a resource to the community to utilize. <br /> Chair Bedford said a different discussion could happen outside of project planning about <br /> facility usage. <br /> Commissioner Richards said making schools more of a resource to community members <br /> is important, especially considering this was the largest bond in NC to pass. <br /> Chair Bedford asked about the timing. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said this would apply before the school starts being built. <br /> Commissioner Hamilton said she agrees with Commissioner Richards to a point but wants <br /> to make sure decisions are made that will not undermine the minimal dollars available to meet <br /> the needs of students. To a separate point, Commissioner Hamilton said in the first paragraph of <br /> the addendum (attachment C), "replace the oldest facilities" should be changed to "replace and <br /> renovate older facilities" to describe the Board's intent more accurately. <br /> Chair Bedford asked to add "etc." to the end of the paragraph under "Equitably between <br /> School Districts" to add flexibility. She asked what is meant by"Capacity" as one of the County's <br /> priorities. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said it attempts to get at the idea of "newer and fewer" from the Woolpert <br /> Study. He said under the current policy, any increase in school capacity would not be allowed, <br /> but the idea here is that if there are newer and fewer schools, a 400-student capacity school could <br /> be taken offline and replaced with a school that has the capacity for 600 students. He said he can <br /> clarify the wording in this section. <br /> Chair Bedford said she thinks there need to be staff procedures with timelines so there is <br /> control over the money and the projects. <br /> Kirk said some of that is in the policy and there will also be a staff working group to work <br /> through the process at each step. <br />