Chatham County School Daze

What an enjoyable morning at Chatham Charter School today! A number of Chatham Citizens were invited to share Valentine’s Day with the Fifth Grade classes and to share their Love Of Reading project. There was a price to pay however. We were asked to read a story or passage from one of our favorite books for 5th graders, to describe our reading habits and to describe our fifth grade class reading experience.

Elected officials and guests such as Sheriff Webster, Commissioners Barnes and Thompson, Ed Spence and Cecilia Grimes jumped right in and read too.

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.

by Leah Friedman, News & Observer Staff Writer

Read the entire article at
http://www.newsobserver.com/133/story/542553.html

PITTSBORO - The Chatham County Board of Education says the 94 acres it owns in northeast Chatham may not be suitable for a new high school.

The site lacks water and sewer service, traffic in the area is already congested, and the environmental impact on the surrounding wetlands may be too great, the board says.

The school board presented its case to the county Board of Commissioners on Monday night during their first joint meeting of the year. The commissioners told the school board its plans need to be set in the next six to seven months because the fast-growing county needs the new school.

Read the entire article at
http://www.heraldsun.com/chatham/13-819083.cfm

BY CARA MCDONOUGH : The Herald-Sun
chh@heraldsun.com
Feb 12, 2007 : 10:30 pm ET

PITTSBORO — Two boards got together Monday night to talk about issues facing Chatham County.

The Chatham County Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners met jointly to discuss, specifically, a potentially problematic high school site and to talk about improving communication between the two boards in planning for the county’s future.

“We’re really trying to share information so we can become a more information-based system and work hand in hand,” said Board of Education Chairman Norman Clark.