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June 23, 2004 Page 524 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met in special session at 9:30 a.m. on June 23, 2004, for the purpose of conducting the initial meeting between the Board of Commissioners and the Cabarrus County Board of Education pursuant to North Carolina General Statute (NCGS) 115C- 431. The meeting was held in the Multipurpose Room at the Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina. Present - Chairman: Robert M. Freeman Vice Chairman: Richard D. Suggs Commissioners: Carolyn B. Carpenter Coy C. Privette kbsent - Commissioner: Robert W. Carruth Also present were John D. Day, County Manager; Marilyn D. Porter, County Attorney; Pam Dubois, Deputy County Manager; and Frankie F. Bonds, Clerk to the Board. Officials from the Cabarrus County Schools present for the meeting were as follows: School Board Chair Liz Poole and Members Wayne Williams, Gary Hahn, Don Hoyle, Grace Mynatt, and Lynn Shue; Dr. Harold Winkler, School Superintendent; Mark Henriques, School Board Attorney; and Jeanette Trexler, Secretary. School Board Chair Liz Poole called to order the meeting of the Board of Education. Chairman Freeman called to order the meeting of the Board of Commissioners at 9:35 a.m. Charles V. Tompkins, Jr., of Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, LLP, called the joint meeting of the Board of Commissioners and Board of Education into session. He stated the Board of Education had requested the joint meeting and both parties had agreed for him to act as mediator pursuant to NCGS 115C-431. He stated his function was two fold: (1) to chair the joint meeting as a neutral facilitator and facilitate the disclosure of the facts, contentions and positions of both parties; and (2) to facilitate efforts by the two Boards to negotiate an agreement settling the dispute. If an agreement cannot be reached during the joint session, Mr. Tompkins said he would then conduct mediation in accordance with the North Carolina Rules of Procedure for Mediators at the request of either Board. He then asked Mark P. Henriques, Attorney for the Board of Education, to state the School Board's position regarding its funding request to the County. Mr. Henriques stated the Board of Commissioners adopted a Budget Ordinance on June 15 that contained an allocation for education and school debt. He said the Board of Education subsequently met, determined the amount appropriated was not sufficient to support the public school system and agreed to request a joint meeting with the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Henriques stated he would review the School Board's proposed budget, identify those items not funded by the County Manager's recommended budget and discuss the need for those items. He said the County appropriated $1.4 million of the School Board's capital outlay requests, leaving a deficit of $7,458,000. Further, Mr. Henriques stated the budget contained no money for new school construction items, specifically $4.5 million to purchase land for a new high school and two new elementary schools and $2 million for architectural and engineering costs for preconstruction work for the three schools. Mr. Henriques reviewed the Board of Education's enrollment projections for elementary and high schools. He reported that two high schools are currently 110 percent over core capacity and all high schools are expected to exceed core capacity by 2007. Therefore, he said the School Board felt it is absolutely necessary to acquire land in 2004 in order to have the new high school on-line by 2007. Mr. Henriques also discussed enrollment at the elementary schools, including 12 schools that will exceed core capacity for 2004-05. Although it takes less time to construct an elementary school, he said there is a critical need to proceed with the purchase of land for these schools. He stated the School Board had requested that a bond referendum be on the November ballot, but to date, the Board of Commissioners had not taken action. He said the requested bond referendum would include funding for the construction of a new high school ($30 million) and two elementary schools ($21.5 million). However, he advised that funding for the land and architectural/engineering costs is needed at this time in order for construction to begin when the bond referendum is approved.