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the continuing, furthering of the education of the minority students. I guess I'm afraid <br />that, with all of the politics and the red tape and stuff, they can fall through the cracks <br />easier. And we're just working really hard to close that minority gap. And I just feel that <br />the merger is not in favor, it's not going to do good for that, because we are really <br />working hard for that. And it needs to be done, and we need to address those things, <br />and for us to merge, I just don't know if we're thinking of the students as much as we <br />should be, especially the minority students. <br />Mary Copeland: I'm Mary Copeland; I'm a lifelong resident of Orange County. My <br />husband and I have run a business on Buckhorn Road for 25 years. My children are in <br />businesses in Orange County, and I know most of the farmers in Orange County. I was <br />raised on a farm. We can't stand another tax, and I don't understand why it is always <br />that money equals education. Money does not equal education. If it did, Washington, <br />DC would have the best schools in the world. And if you will look at the small third <br />world countries that spend very little money, but they educate their children. And we <br />have to look at the problem in the schools and not call for more taxes, more taxes. Let's <br />find out how we can better teach our children. How about we get back to phonics and <br />back to the basics and take care of our children instead of bussing them all over the <br />County. If you're worried about pollution, think about the gas and fumes spewed out in <br />this County by sending busses from one end of the County to the other. Merger is not <br />the answer. Thank you. <br />Seshi Hargett: Hello, I'm Seshi Hargett; I'm Student Body Secretary here at Chapel <br />Hill High School. Here at Chapel Hill High, we've worked really hard to improve the <br />achievement gap through equity training for all of our staff. Gwen Singleton, who is a <br />leader in equity training and the issues around that, said that to close the achievement <br />gap you must have your lower students meet your upper level students there and not <br />have the upper level students come down. I'm curious to know how, with the merger, <br />would the equity work here at my school be maintained and continued. <br />Jonathan Collins: My name is Jonathan Collins and I'm a member of Student <br />Government, and I'm also the Editor in Chief of our school yearbook here at Chapel Hill <br />High School. Chapel Hill High School is not the only school with high academic <br />standards, but also a school where students participate in a plethora of clubs and <br />student organizations. CHHS has 88 clubs that have been created to attract diverse <br />interests. These clubs meet at lunch so that students may be involved in varsity sports <br />and so that there won't be any after school transportation issues. We are concerned <br />that Orange County High School has a split lunch period, which would interfere with this <br />process. How can you ensure that if the two districts are merged, CHHS will not be <br />changed into a split lunch schedule, and therefore hurt club participation? And also, <br />considering the difficulty in which Chapel Hill High School and East Chapel Hill High <br />School have in aligning their own curriculums, how will the same difficulties be <br />prevented when curriculum must be aligned between four high schools? Thank you. <br />Robin Staudt: My name is Robin Staudt, I'm from Efland. And I want to thank all of <br />you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you tonight. As some of you may know, <br />