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Chair Brown: Miss Hill? I would like to get you the data that you've asked for on the school projections, because we certainly have all that information. So if you could leave your name and I'll get that to you. Thank you. Kelly Monroe-Porco: The IB program at Cedar Ridge High, which we are in danger of losing because of funding, has a credo. Part of the credo states: We hope that students may become critical and compassionate thinkers, lifelong learners, and informed participants in local and world affairs, conscious of the shared humanity that binds all people together, while respecting the variety of cultures and attitudes that makes for the richness of life. I think we can all agree that we want that for all of our children. We definitely have that in common. But I want to focus on the word culture. Because it's been tossed around quite a bit lately by school officials and people in both Chapel Hill and Orange County. I believe that my perspective on this issue is valid. I've been a teacher for almost 20 years. I've taught in New York State, I've taught in Chapel Hill schools, and I know tutor students from both Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. People on both sides of this issue are using culture and the preservation of it as a reason not to merge the school districts. I would like someone to define for me what culture means. I want somebody to say it. Is it rich versus poor? Northern attitudes versus southern values? Educated versus uneducated? White collar versus blue collar? Liberal versus conservative? Nobody wants to say it. But culture, I think, is a euphemism for prejudice, on both sides. And I'm tired of it. Prejudice that is based on the fear of the unknown, and I dare say that many of the people who are espousing the culture argument have not visited or been heavily involved in both districts. I have and I know that kids are kids no matter where they live. And despite their socio-economic backgrounds and the provincial views of their parents. My daughter goes to school with Orange County kids, but she dances, swims, plays soccer, and socializes with friends from Chapel Hill. They have much in common. And I contend, so do their parents. After all, we're all here tonight. Otherwise, how is it that we all work and live together in every other aspect in this County? American educator and former U. S. Senator S. I. Hayakawa once said, "If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture, that you are a victim of it." Commissioners, in your wisdom, I ask that you not let all of us become victims of our so called cultures, and recognize that all children rely on you to give them the same opportunities in public education within the same County. I ask that your solution to protect these opportunities be one that cannot be overturned by future Commissioners. That solution is merger. Anything else is only a band-aid on a wound that can be opened again and again. AI Hartkopf: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate the opportunity to address you this evening. Let me begin by saying I really appreciate you taking this time to listen to all of our input, and let me echo my wife's sentiments that Hillsborough Elementary rocks, absolutely. I have two daughters that go there. As of the end of the 2nd grade, the oldest one was reading off the scale. That's because she works hard. It doesn't really have that much to do with money. I must say that there have been a lot of people here tonight who have put forth a lot of points and put them a lot more eloquently than I could have. So I'll just take my time to set some of the incorrect rhetoric straight.