Chatham County School Daze

Very productive meeting with excellent input from interested citizens. Most of the comments had to do with questions posed about when schools would be built to prepare for the influx of new residents and their own children.

There still seem to be some questions about the funding stream (read where the money will come from to design and build). Both the county and school system’s web sites have charts showing when the funds will be released. Unless the schools ask for a rearrangement or a change in priorities, the earliest any money is scheduled to be released is shown on those charts.

Interesting to read the two reporters’ take on the meeting last night when the Jack Bennett Road site was discussed! I saw it as a very positive sign because agreement as to how to proceed on that site was pretty thoroughly discussed with comments from a number of citizens too.

Commissioner Patrick Barnes correctly pointed out that it is indeed rare when a site cannot be built upon. His experience as a contractor over the years saw him in some pretty tough sites where he brought order out of chaos at the hands of skilled equipment operation of dirt moving equipment. Other commissioners raised points they had observed about the ravines, wetlands and limited building areas. Three of the five commissioners have now toured the site and all of the current Board of Education members have as well.

On 5 February, the Board of Education met to discuss and assign responsibilities for presenting certain facts about the Jack Bennett Road site during the joint meeting with the Board of Commissioners. The scheduled joint meeting is 12 February at Pittsboro Elementary School beginning at 6:30 p.m.

After a walking tour of the land on 18 December by the BOEd, media, central office staff and concerned citizens, three professionals in botany, soil science and Department of Transportation made detailed presentations about the site in their respective fields. The joint meeting was scheduled to ensure both elected boards shared considerations about the potential site.