The PTA generously let the candidates answer each of these interesting multi-part questions with up to 200 words each.
1. Growth of student enrollment has major impacts on the school district including a quarter billion dollar 10-year Capital Investment Plan (mostly for new facilities) and the upheaval of redistricting with the opening of each new school. SAPFO was designed primarily to assure that new schools were constructed to keep pace with development and that developments are delayed until adequate school capacity is constructed. If you are elected, will you continue to uphold SAPFO?
Because of the Town’s current growth policies, I think that SAPFO isn’t working effectively and needs to be reformed. Specifically, the Town’s approval process isn’t “sensitive” enough to SAPFO targets leading to new school facilities reaching capacity within a short period of time after construction. If we follow the current trajectory of development in Chapel Hill, we will not have enough lead time built into the process to adequately site, fund and build facilities.
2. Buildable land for school is becoming more difficult to locate. The Town of Chapel Hill has a provision that allows the identification of future school sites in the town’s master plan. What is your opinion on this provision? Do you support continuing this practice in Chapel Hill or instituting this in Carrboro? What should the school district do if they cannot find the necessary land?
I’m a member of the Sustainability Task Force and we plan to evaluate the Town’s current plans for accommodating new schools in light of other considerations, including availability of green/brown field development opportunities, a determination of appropriate density levels for those parcels, anticipated transit capability among other factors that will affect school siting.
As far as land use, I have been calling for a rethink in the scope and scale of our facilities since Carrboro High School was planned. “Industrial” size facilities do not make sense economically or environmentally. Alternatives do exist. For instance, the elementary school I attended would easily sit on the footprint of Downtown’s University Chrysler building. I will collaborate with our school leadership in finding these alternatives.
3. The school district and town have long partnered, especially in Chapel Hill, on a number of facilities for shared community use, such as the community gym at Rashkis Elementary School. Rashkis is one of the most highly utilized shared facilities. However, the new elementary school currently being constructed with a target opening in 2008 will not have a community gym. What is your position on partnering with the school district on shared facilities? Would you support partnering with the school district to include a community gym in the next elementary school, currently planned to open in 2010, if it is sited in your jurisdiction?
We have potentially lost an excellent opportunity for a dual-use facility in Northside that I hope I can help restore as a viable option. Given economic realities, all facilities – school and town – should be designed and deployed with an eye towards maximizing usage. Beyond athletics, I would like to see dual-use art and homeschooling opportunities developed.
4. Historically, towns partnered with the schools on creating safe environments for children, such as after school programs and stationing a police officer (school resource officer) in school buildings. While that partnership continues to the benefit of children and the entire community benefits from reduced crime rates, the costs have largely been shifted to the schools. What is your opinion on the shared responsibility of towns to fund programs that help achieve town functions?
The Town cannot shoulder a responsibility that needs to be funded by the school system. I do believe there are additional opportunities to leverage existing and new law enforcement programs to team with the schools to improve overall safety of our student population – in school and out.
5. Should town bus service be provided to the schools? Who should fund this?
The Town’s and University currently fund the “fare free” system. Increasing capacity to carry students in an appropriate fashion makes sense but the burden for moving students to and from cannot be shifted onto the Town without a commitment to fund that increase in ridership partially from school resources.
