AG 2004 06 15 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT Under the guidance of a comrmttee of local citizens, staffs with Cabarrus County, Kannapolis City Schools and Cabarrus County Schools have formulated a set of grading pnnciples for school development. These principles will guide community leaders as they seek new school sites which will integrate with existing neighborhoods and not encourage development of additional subdivisions in sparsely populated areas that are costly to serve. This proactive step to meet the school systems' needs whale also helping to control growth is a result of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners' dems~on to create a Commumty Committee on Education Capital Planning and Financing. With the behef that public input into thas maportant community issue Is vital for the passing of a school bond, the Board created this Committee inn February after agreeing m principle to placing a school bond referendum on the November general election ballot. The Committee's goal is to review school construction requests, consider alternatives, and make recommendations for which projects should be pursued and how to finance them. As the Conumttee met to discuss such issues as long-term facility needs, school design and placement, school-size and property acquisition, staffs from ihe school systems and county government were asked to provide information to help the Committee exarmne these ~ssues from a cost perspective, an educational perspective and a commumty planning point of wew. These discussions raised complex issues that are beyond the expertise of the Comrmttee members. So to expedite its task, the Cornrmttee asked the staffs to formulate recommendations for ~ts consideration. The staffs from Cabarrus County and the school systems have worked collaboratively to create the following set of Guiding Principles for School Development. These principles will allow the school systems to provide the needed facilities to accommodate student population growth while ensunng that school locations and designs are environmentally sound and work well with the existing commumties. The prmmples are divided into three categories: site location, site design, and implementation. Site Location: These principles prowde guidance for locating schools in areas that are served by existing public facilities and that provide amenities for existing communities. The overall purpose is to ensure that school placement does not encourage new growth m locations where governmental agencies are not prepared to provide necessary services. Furthermore, this principle encourages schools to serve as multi-use community centers. Site Design: The site design principles help ensure that schools are easily and safely accessible to pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. In addition, there principles call for school site designs that enhance the streetscape, utilize as little acreage as possible, and incorporate environmental best practices. This measure will reduce overall land acquisition and developmenf costs and will remove less land from the tax base. Implementation Principles: The implementation principles provide the needed steps to ensure that site location and design principles are carried out to the satisfaction of all parties. These prmmples note that all agencies that have an interest in school location and construction decisions be invited to participate m the overall process. These principles also call for a predictable and repeatable process to ease the decision-making process among staff and elected officials. DRAFT 05/20/04