The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners and the Alleghany Board = of Education met in special session on Monday, September 17, 2007, at 5:30pm in the Commissioners Meeting Room of the County Administration Building, 348 S= outh Main Street, Sparta, North

The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners and the Alleghany Board of Education met in special session on Thursday, May 15, 2008, at 6:30pm in the Board Meeting Room of the County Administrati= on Building, 348 South Main Street, Sparta, North Carolina. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss school facilities.

Present: County—Chair Ken Richardson, Vice-Chair Warren Taylor, Commissioner Randy Miller, Commissioner Doug Murp= hy, Commissioner Milly Richardson, County Manager D= on Adams, and Clerk to the Board Karen Evans. Boar= d of Education—Chair Clarence Crouse, Vice-Chair Betsy Dillon, Mitch Frank= lin, Joel Souther, Superintendent Dr. Jeff Cox and Assistant Superintendent John Farrelly.

Chair Ken Richardson called the Commissioners’ meeting to order at 6:30pm.<= o:p>

Clarence Crouse called the Board of Education meeting to order and asked for a momen= t of silence.

Clarence Crouse stated the Board of Education’s appreciation to the Commission= ers and County Manager regarding the referendum.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He talked about looking at the lon= g-range needs in the schools and developing a subcommittee including some of the Commissioners, representatives from the communities and school personnel. He further talked about they will = be discussing QZAB projects during this meeting.

Betsy Dillon stated that they are looking for direction about the school needs.

Dr. Jeff Cox reiterated his apprec= iation to the County Manager for his work on the QZAB project. He talked about those projects are moving forward and will continue to do so. He thanked the Commissioners for allowing those projects to happen. He stated that the Board of Education still has facility needs. He asked where we go from here and= how to address the needs.

Chair Ken Richardson said that he is open to the subcommittee idea and the need to provide guidance to the subcommittee about what their goals are. He talked about taking the three s= chools and making them the best K-8 as possible.&= nbsp; He further talked about the recent newspaper article about the high school and looking at providing additional opportunities at the high school. He reiterated the subcommittee needs to realize that they would need to come up with what is = best for the three schools.

Commissioner Doug Murphy and Dr. Cox discussed how the Board of Education envisions the = subcommittee would work.

Mitch Franklin stated that they are open to suggestions, and they are back to squ= are one, where they were three years ago.

Commissioner Doug Murphy asked what the long-range needs are.

Dr. Cox explained the space needs at end of the schools.

Commissioner Warren Taylor asked about the article in the newspaper about another facili= ty for the high school.

Dr. Cox explained that they are currently moving forward with a $40,000 planning grant. He explained that they would look at the Wilkes Community Co= llege location to house the facility. He further explained that the program would have to have 100 students by the s= econd year and reviewing the possibility of the program being 7^th thro= ugh 12^th grades. He ta= lked about the focus of this program and allowing students to graduate with an associate’s degree. He = explained how the program works now.

John Farrelly added other things to facility needs; no playgrounds at Sparta Elementary Sc= hool, no science classroom at elementary schools, Glad= e Creek Elementary School has classes on the stage and has a trailer, Sparta Elementary School arts building, no space for vocational classes and can’t provide all of the programming that they want to.

Chair Ken Richardson and Clarence Crouse discussed these are the things that the subcommittee will discuss.

Commissioner Warren Taylor and Dr. Cox talked about the QZAB projects.=

Mitch Franklin talked about the Board of Education needs direction on when the funding will be available and then the Board of Education can look at facil= ity needs. He stated that the who= le issue is about when and how the funding will be available.

Commissioner Doug Murphy talked about the Commissioners will be meeting immediately after this meeting and this needs to be looked at again. He stated that curriculum needs to= be looked at as well as facility needs.

Commissioner Milly Richardson stated that the County doesn’t have any money and actually has less money now than before.&n= bsp; She talked about finding grant funds for projects. She stated that she will be glad to serve on whatever committee. = She reiterated the need for finding money from other sources for the school sys= tem because the Board of Commissioners doesn’t have it.

Dr. Cox explained items that already come from grant monies. He stated that the curriculum come= s back to staff needs and facility needs.

Commissioner Doug Murphy talked about crossing one bridge at a time.

Mitch Franklin talked about needing to know about funding before going forward. <= o:p>

Joel Souther talked about the schools receive a lot of grants currently. He further talked about the mandat= ed science testing, and the need to address how to fix those needs.<= /p>

Commissioner Doug Murphy talked about everyone would have to look at every option and lo= ok at a need to find a particular funding for that need.

Commissioner Milly Richardson talked about a project with the Fire Commission and seeking grants for this and getting people to help.

Clarence Crouse talked about the subcommittee would be a more efficient way to communicate between the boards. He further talked about grants will require both boards to be in agreement.

Commissioner Doug Murphy stated that there needs to be a better way to streamline communication between the boards.

Dr. Cox talked about the urgency of knowing where to go next because they are n= ow deciding about three mobile units and have sewage leakage at Glade Creek School. He explained the septic system pro= blems, and the health inspector would rather it be torn up and put a new system in rather than patching it.

Mitch Franklin stated that they don’t want to make a short-sided decision.<= o:p>

Commissioner Doug Murphy talked about the science needs at all schools, water/sewer need= s at Glade Creek Elementary School and space need= s at Piney Creek Elementary School and Glade Creek Elementary School.<= o:p>

Joel Souther stated that the maintenance department has tried to work on these issues to prolong major problems.

Commissioner Milly Richardson asked about eminent domain.

Dr. Cox explained that there is no land for sale right now around Glade Creek School.<= /span>

Commissioner Warren Taylor talked about the amount of needs now, and if everyone waits u= ntil the funding comes; the needs are going to get bigger. He further talked about the subcom= mittee looking at the needs and prioritizing the needs for the Commissioners to see how far they can go.

Dr. Cox explained how he sees the subcommittee could work.

Chair Ken Richardson stated that there is no need to form a committee if it will = not be productive. He suggested identifying three needs at each school.&nb= sp; He talked about fiscal responsibility and moral responsibility. He talked about the subcommittee w= ould not necessarily identify new items, just prioritize existing needs and realizing that not all needs will be addressed the first year.

Clarence Crouse explained that when seeking grants, they will have to know the priority. <= /p>

Chair Ken Richardson, Commissioner Randy Miller and Commissioner Doug Murphy discussed water issues at Glade Creek Elementary School.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Commissioner Randy Miller reiterated that if he is hearing Mitch Franklin and Joel South= er correctly, they are saying fix the problem because band-aids will costs more in the lo= ng run.

Joel Souther talked about taking small steps; address immediate needs then fix t= hose needs and move forward. =

Mitch Franklin talked about fixing what we need to, having long-range plans, havi= ng an academic advantage somewhere to be able to offer students more opportuni= ties. He further talked about there may = be a way to do both if they knew how much funding would be available and when.

County Manager Don Adams stated that these ar= e all issues that everyone has known about. He used Glade Creek’s sewer issue as an example. He talked about the classroom spac= e at all three facilities and how is programming going to be involved with that.=

Dr. Cox stated that they haven’t looked at that since the referendum. He explained that they wanted to h= ave this meeting to see where we are. He said they will be looking at those and update them.

County Manager Don Adams reiterated Commissio= ner Warren Taylor’s comments about having the subcommittee prioritize tho= se needs and bring it back before the Board of Commissioners in order to be ab= le to see what we are looking at.

Commissioner Doug Murphy talked about setting up the subcommittee and getting it going.<= o:p>

Mitch Franklin talked about looking at all of the options available including loo= king at a modified middle school.

Chair Ken Richardson stated that everyone will be back here in a month discussing= the Board of Education budget.

Dr. Cox stated that the budget request does not include the sewer issue because= it wasn’t a crisis at the time of the budget.

Commissioner Milly Richardson and Dr. Cox discussed the land issue at Glade Creek Elementary School.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

The Board of Commissioners and Board of Education discussed the property lines = at Glade Creek Elementary School.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Chair Ken Richardson asked Commissioner Warren Taylor= to be the Commissioners’ representative on the subcommittee. He recommended someone from the sc= hool board and someone from the PTO at each of the schools, some of the teachers= to have a committee of half a dozen or ten at the most. He explained that a la= rge committee is more cumbersome.

Clarence Crouse agreed and stated the need to work with the key people; Don Adams and Dr. Cox, to come up with the com= mittee in the next three to four days. He talked about no more than two from each board.

Chair Ken Richardson and Dr. Cox talked about they will have more information abo= ut the Glade Creek Elementary Sc= hool issue.

Clarence Crouse talked about sharing ideas and concepts. He further talked about the main recommendation for tonight was the subcommittee. He stated that they have accomplis= hed a lot tonight to move forward. = He further stated that they will prioritize their needs soon.

Being no further Commissioners’ business, Commissioner Randy Miller made a motion to adjourn at 7:25pm= . Commissioner Doug Murphy seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.

Being no further Board of Education’s business, Mitch Franklin made a motio= n to adjourn the meeting at 7:26= pm. Joel Souther seconded the motion.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Vote 4:0.

Respectfully Submitt= ed,

Karen Evans

Clerk to the Board

Attest:

Ken Richardson<= /o:p>

Chairman<= /span>