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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 6, 2018 Work Session with School Board Minutes03 MINUTES Frederick County Board of Supervisors — Frederick County School Board Joint Meeting Monday, August 6, 2018 5:30 p.m. R. E. Aylor Middle School, 901 Aylor Road, Stephens City, VA ATTENDEES Board of Supervisors: Chairman Charles S. DeHaven, Jr.; Vice Chairman Gary A. Lofton; Blaine P. Dunn; Judith McCann -Slaughter; J. Douglas McCarthy; and Robert W. Wells were present. Shannon G. Trout was absent. Staff present: Kris C. Tierney, County Administrator; Jay E. Tibbs, Deputy County Administrator; Rod Williams, County Attorney and Ann W. Phillips, Deputy Clerk to the Board of Supervisors, School Board: Dr. John Lamanna; Michael Lake; Seth Thatcher; Jay Foreman; Frank Wright; and Shontya' Washington were present. Kali Klubertanz was absent. Staff present: Dr. David Sovine, Superintendent; Dr. Al Omdorff, Assistant Superintendent for Administration; Dr. James Angelo, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction; Steve Edwards, Coordinator of Policy and Communications; and Kevin Kenney, Clerk of the Works. CALL TO ORDER Chairman DeHaven called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Upon motion of Vice Chairman Lofton, seconded by Supervisor Dunn, the agenda was approved. DISCUSSION Chair Lamanna summarized the process thus far and reviewed the questions posed by the Board of Supervisors at the previous joint meeting. Dr. Angelo made a presentation on the School Board's Systematic Approach to Decision Making explaining the process used in determining the district's request for a 160,000 square foot building to replace Aylor Middle School. He reviewed data sources and changes in instruction models requiring additional floor space, citing the particular need for collaborative learning spaces. He concluded saying that student learning levels cannot be separated from instructional models and instructional models cannot be separated from school design because the three things are interconnected. Dr. Omdorff reviewed square footage minimums and compared them to the desired space sizes needed as decided by the School Board and its Buildings and Grounds Committee in conjunction with the current instructional model. Mr. Kenney noted the Department of Education's minimum standards and said that when square footage is measured, there are areas that are not to be included such as closets and wall Minute Book 44 Board of Supervisors -School Board Joint Worksession of 08/06/18 County of Frederick, Virginia widths. He said just computing total square footage will not result in an accurate useable square footage figure for a given building. Dr. Lamanna said the School Board had heard this presentation before in regularly scheduled training sessions. He noted that the School staff members are experts who have a decision -making process and do not make whimsical decisions. He said the staff has concluded six construction projects during his tenure and are experts who know what they are doing. He asked the Board of Supervisors to trust the School Board to make the right construction decisions. Supervisor Lofton asked how the School Board will address the disparity between Frederick County Middle School and the Aylor replacement school regarding collaborative learning space affecting student performance. Dr. Lamanna noted that Frederick County Middle School has collaborative learning spaces. Dr. Angelo said that schools do the best they can in existing structures, and when renovation or replacements occur, they are updated to include the collaborative spaces. Dr. Sovine noted the difficulty of providing flexible learning space at James Wood Middle School with its traditional floor plan versus the newer Frederick County Middle School. Supervisor Lofton noted the minimum standard of 118,000 square feet for a middle school. He noted a 140,000 square foot building would be 20,000 square feet more and asked who decides what is optimum. Dr. Sovine said the decision is a function of the School Board in conjunction with staff. Supervisor Dunn said he is not challenging the integrity of the School Board when he is discussing the points about square footage needs. He said his concern is new debt for the County and asked if adjustments in new projects could be made to offset additional debt. He asked if some of the projects on the CIP can be delayed or whether a tax increase will be necessary. Dr. Lamanna said the mention of tax increases is sensationalism and the CIP is to be used for planning by the Board of Supervisors. He asked why logically the Board would approve a building that will not hold 900 students especially with the rate of residential growth in the area. He said the cost to address the building size will be greater later. Dr. Sovine noted that for the last two years, the Schools have been below the planned funding level. He added that the School Board plans to capture as many cost savings as possible when planning and building. Supervisor Dunn explained his thoughts, and Dr. Lamanna asked the Board to think about the growth in the area. Supervisor McCarthy asked whether the current Aylor building would be available for surplus. Mr. Wright and Dr. Sovine said that with the growth in the area, it may be that the current building would be needed to address crowding at Sherando High School if another high school is not built. Mr. Wright said he trusts the Board of Supervisors to do the right thing for the community. He said he wants the Board of Supervisors to trust the School Board to build the best school for the students of Frederick County with the funds provided. Supervisor Dunn referenced a request the previous year for a new high school. He noted there was a change in capacity numbers used by Dr. Orndorff. He asked Dr. Lamanna if it would Minute Book 44 Board of Supervisors -School Board Joint Worksession of 08/06/18 County of Frederick, Virginia 0 be possible for an addition to made to an existing high school in lieu of building a fourth high school in exchange for a $52 million Aylor Middle School project. Dr. Sovine clarified that the capacity numbers were changed because the Buildings and Grounds Committee requested a review since the numbers had not been updated for a long period of time. Dr. Lamanna suggested that after the decision on the Aylor replacement appropriation, another joint meeting be held to review the roles and responsibilities of each board in an effort to encourage communication and teamwork among the boards. ADJOURN Upon motion of Vice Chairman Lofton, seconded by Supervisor McCarthy, the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. ea X l�s 1� . Charles S. DeHaven, Jr. Chairman, Board of Supervisors Kris C T'e ne Clerk, oar of S -visors Minutes Prepared By: Aii ' /enn V4,. Phillips Deputy Cleric, Board of Supervisors Minute Book 44 Board of Supervisors-Schoof Board Joint Worksession of 08/06/18 County of Frederick, Virginia