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o2i <br />MINUTE S <br />ORANGE CWN1'Y BOARD OF C(1"IP'lISSIONERS <br />SPECIAL MF~'PING <br />MARCH 11, 1985 <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners held a special meeting on 2+iarch <br />11, 1985 at 7:30 p.m. at the Grady A. Brown Elementary School in fiillsborough, <br />North Carolina for the purpose of receiving a report from Darrell Spencer, <br />Director, Division of School Planning on the subject of merger. <br />CQ~'i15SIONERS PRESENP: Chair Don Willhoit, and Commissioners Sha.rley <br />Marshall, Moses Carey, and Ber- Lloyd. <br />CQ~Il~iISSIOI~R ABSENT: Commissioner Norman W"alker. <br />STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Kenneth R. Thompson, Assistant County <br />Managers William T. Laws arx~ Albert Kittrell and Clerk and Administrative <br />Assistant to the Board Beverly A. Blythe. <br />~iP,DIGE' COUN:EX SCHOOL BOARD w~~.as PRESENT: Chain Norman Haithcock, aix~ <br />members Bob Bateman, Lindsay Efland, Walter Fairbault, June Haas, Max Kennedy <br />and Frank M~.ller. <br />HAPEL NSI,L~ARRBORp SCI3O0L BCl§~2D MII~ISERS PRFS~' Ghair Theodore Parrish <br />arr3 members Dorothy Sue Baker, Carolyn Born, Verla Insko, Barbara Thornton and <br />Edith Elliott [n7iggins. Phyllis Latchin was absent. <br />Norman Haithcock ca].1ed the meeting to order and welcorc~d those in <br />attendance. June Haas gave the invocation. Haithcock stated the purpose of <br />the meeting was to receive information from the Department of School Planning <br />relative to the study of a merger between Orange County schools. <br />Ted Parrish stated the information received on the topic of merger will <br />enable the respective Boards to make a decision on proceeding with a school <br />merger study. <br />Dr. Dan Lansford, Superintendent of the Orange County Schools, introduced <br />Dr. Darrell Spencer, Director in the Division of School Planning from the <br />Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh. <br />Dr. Spencer proceeded with the history of the Special Chartered School <br />Districts in North Carolina stating that discussions on how to deliver <br />services to children has never been more prevalent than at the present time. <br />The way in which schools are organa.zed is the question. The first special <br />chartered school district was chartered by the General Assembly in 1881. Some <br />of the special chartered districts serve iroanicipalities; others include only a <br />part of the County. From 1881 to 1957 a total of 74 special chartered school <br />districts or city administrative units were added through the General Assembly. <br />In 1960 the first merger took place between Charlotte and Mecklenburg. Since <br />the urban areas waned a higher education arr3 had a higher tax base per child <br />it was easa.er to upgrade the city administration than to upgrade the entire <br />wunty. Qat of the a2 city administrative units today only 29 have a <br />supplemental levy. In 1963 the sewnd merger took place between Winston and <br />Forsyth County. Pitt County and Greenville City have already been approved by <br />the General Assembly and will merge in July, 1986, reducing the number of <br />special districts to 40. During the process of merger there is not complete <br />satisfaction with the results in every case. However, no efforts have been <br />made to recluster an administrative unit which has merged. <br />Dr. Spencer stated that 22 merger studies have been conducted sa.nce 1968 <br />with the most recent study in Robeson County which has 5 administrative units <br />