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May 27, 2003 Page 135 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met in recessed session in the Multipurpose Room at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina on Tuesday, May 27, 2003, at 5:30 p.m. Present - Chairman: Robert Mo Freeman Commissioners: Carolyn B. Carpenter Robert W. Carruth Coy C. Privette Absent Vice Chairman: Richard D. Suggs Also present were Mr. John D. Day, Interim County Manager; Ms. Pam Dubois, Finance Director; Ms. Cathie K. Straub, Budget Officer; Mr. Don Cummings, Human Resources Director; and Mrs. Frankie F. Bonds, Clerk to the Board. Chairman Freeman was not present for the beginning of the meeting. Commissioner Carruth called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and gave the invocation. Economic Incentive Grants Mr. Bill Kouri, Tax Auditor, responded to questions regarding the economic incentive grants, including the reimbursement of a percentage of the fire district tax as a part of the incentive grant agreement. Also, he advised that an incentive grant could not be transferred without consent of the Board if the company is sold. Cabarrus County Schools Ms. Grace Mynatt, Cabarrus School Board Chair, called the meeting of the Cabarrus County Board of Education to order and recognized Dr. Harold Winkler, County Schools Superintendent, for a presentation. She asked the Board to consider the current situation of the Schools. Dr. Winkler gave a PowerPoint presentation providing information concerning the Cabarrus County Schools, including performance data, school construction costs, current expense needs, capital outlay needs and other budgetary needs. He highlighted the following issues during his presentation: (1) Success of the ~Leave No Child Behind" initiative with preliminary results of end-of-grade test scores indicating that 90 percent of students in grades three through eight are at or above grade level; (2) Comparison of costs for small (community) schools versus large (non- community) schools with it being less expensive to build one school for 1,000 students at a cost of $13.3 million rather than build two 500-student schools at a cost of $9.6 million each; (3) Continuing growth of the Schools with a student population of 39,000 projected in 2016; (4) Failure to build new schools until 2008 as recommended by Mr. Day in the FY 2004 Budget Message would result in approximately 3,500 students in portable classrooms at the time construction is started; (5) Review of Current Expense needs, including expansion items, teacher and principal supplements, technology, etc.; (6) Additional funding needs for such items as buses, completion of athletic facilities at two middle schools and architectural services for a new media center at Concord High School; and (7) Need for the County Commissioners and School Board members to join forces in efforts to get additional funding from the State. In conclusion, Dr. Winkler stated the Board of Education requests that the City and County place a moratorium on new homes and apartments if the County places a moratorium on building new schools. Commissioner Privette advised Dr. Winkler that the Board of Commissioners has not said that no new schools would be built until 2008. Kannapolis Schools Dr. JoAnn Byerly, Kannapolis Schools Superintendent, presented a brief overview of the requested budget for Kannapolis City Schools. She commented on the difficult economic situation and described the requested budget as a "bare necessities" budget that centers on student achievement. She stated the requested budget totals approximately $3.9 million for current expense and $425,997.00 for capital outlay. Dr. Byerly praised the combined maintenance program with the County Schools and listed other combined services, including new construction management, busing/transportation, pre- school and cultural arts program. Mental Health Association