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62 <br /> <br />we. Meetings have been held and will continue between the School staff, and City and <br />Social Services staff to see how they can better link Social Services with the pre-school. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano said perhaps the rumors exist because options have not been made <br />clear, and said he would like a timeline on when the options will be articulated. Mr. <br />Toscano noted that it will be hard to get to the options until a decision is made about how <br />to deliver the service (scattered versus one site). <br /> <br /> Dr. Symons said that clear options have been given, and noted that people are <br />involved who have different agendas and some of those should not be part of the <br />consideration, Dr. Symons said what should be driving the discussion is what can we <br />afford and what do we do to get the best results. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano asked if it is true that there is no consensus on the School Board on <br />the best way to deliver the service, and Dr. Symons said that is correct. Dr. Symons said <br />the consensus of the School Board now is 1) not to renovate Jefferson School and 2) take <br />time to study the issue; and 3) put existing capital funds in the HVAC system at Walker <br />School first. <br /> <br /> Ms. Mary Susan Payne, Chair of the School Board, said one of the missing pieces <br />is what the schools would get back if they turn Jefferson School back to the City. <br /> <br /> Ms. Daugherty said that has not been discussed by the entire Council, but she <br />would be willing to rededicate the funds back to the schools if Jefferson School is sold. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano said that while Jefferson School is currently assessed at $4.5 million, <br />if the building were to be sold to the private sector, a portion of it may still remain public <br />so that the amount the City receives back may be less than that amount. Mr. Toscano <br />noted that there is a lot of political sensitivity attached to the building. Mr. Toscano said <br />he would like to put as much money as possible back for school capital needs. <br /> <br /> Mr. Steve Campbell, School Board member, said that the amount available from <br />Jefferson School will not be known until the City goes through the community process, <br />but said he feels the School Board needs to kr~)w the amount before that. Mr, Campbell <br />said that the project will cost between $5 million and $7 million either way. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he thinks the Schools should look at what is needed and work <br />from that point. <br /> <br /> Mr. Richard Meriwether, School Board member, said that the School Board <br />backed off from realigning the grades because of community opposition. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano said the Council and School Board need to think about the <br />community approach to Jefferson School now rather than later. <br /> <br /> Mr. Camphell said that Council could agree to give a certain amount of money for <br />Jefferson School now and if sold for less could give the Schools more in capital funds, <br />and if sold for more, the City could keep the extra. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said he feels the amount for Jefferson is too unknown at this time <br />to make any financial commitment. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards said that Council has been asking for a demonstrated benefit of the <br />pre-school program, and she was concerned that they may have backed off of their <br />commitment to the program because of that, but is glad that is not the case. Ms. Richards <br />said she is interested in looking at the connection to day care and social services. <br /> <br /> Referring to previous estimates for renovating Jefferson School, Dr. Symons said <br />that the exact cost of renovating Jefferson School would not really be known until a <br />decision is made about the pre-school program and the exact scope of the work. <br /> <br /> <br />