Agenda - 09-23-2002 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Prepared 9119/02 1 DRAFT" or for something else. Valerie thinks there's a whole other set of issues with Lincoln Center, including possibly razing what's there and relocating central administration. Dana asked about what percent of kids come from the southern end of the district. Neil recalled a plot map shared earlier, guessing it might be 40% depending on how you define "southern end" of the County. The student population definitely supports a high school there. Neil doesn't think anyone is averse to having a two-story high school, but more than that will require some deliberation. He doesn't think DPI standards are a barrier to building more stories since it's all local money- it's more an issue of going through the Town SUP process. Barry noted that other states have moved away from DPI's "sprawl model" and referred to a handout previously distributed about "Why Johnny Can't Walk to School". Elizabeth Carter has concerns that the "Scroggs problem" not be replicated, where some families don't feel part of that community because they re only there from Monday-Friday. She wants to be sensitive to folks who may be less fortunate than others, and wants Lincoln Center, if used, to be welcoming and a source of pride to those attending. Facilities are important in discussions about closing the achievement gap. Barry asked if staff can make an assessment of how much more it would cost to do two 750 student high schools rather than one serving1500, spread out over ten years, maybe without a tax increase. It may be we would spend more money over time, but could get something on line more quickly- not that you let money dictate educational programming. John expressed reservations about the County s ability to fund two 750 student high schools in the next 10 years with no tax increase. Economically, he thinks it would be better to build something expandable. Elizabeth noted that the concept of academies at East Chapel Hill High never materialized because the student population grew so fast there. Maybe its a bad time to discuss this, given the economy, but she thinks that smaller HS are better for children educationally Valerie said it would be helpful to see on paper if certain options are cost prohibitive, leading to less time spent on pursuing unrealistic approaches. We could just end any of that kind of discussion. We need to meet with the Chapel Hill Town Council. Rod and Ken Chavious noted the importance of working closely with school staffs on assumptions we use to build these cost models. The size and timing matter because of other debt considerations. Neil observed that it is important to remember that the cost of the high school noted in the 2002-12 CIP was "backed into": The $16 million figure was what we thought we might be able to scrape together for high school space. Staff talked about$16 million for 500 students, but didn't change that estimate when the Board of Education specified a building for at least 750. With a new middle school cost at $18.5 million, you can't realistically hope to build a full service 750 student high school for$16 milllion.