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probability, so will the needs of the school systems. And consequently I don't see those gains being in the cards. I think the bottom line here is that this is an end run around local democracy. I mean, that's what people are trying to do - do an end run around local democracy. Democracy can be damned inconvenient. But the people in the north, who, even though they cry poverty, they have about the same tax base per student as people in the south. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro district could vote to equalize your taxes. They choose not to. That's their right. I guess that's my bottom line. Thank you. Gloria Faley: I wasn't going to speak tonight, but I am bothered by the slurs that have come back and forth across lines. I am especially bothered by the statements that have been made about Chapel Hill-Carrboro citizens, about being prejudiced or being elitist. These are the same people that backed three separated bond packages, and those three bond packages had funding for Orange County schools, and they never questioned it, it never bothered them, they supported it. And I wanted to understand where were these slurs from. It's fear. It's fear because not all the questions were answered, and when we make a statement, "well maybe we can answer the questions after the process is done" that fear grows even more. All the questions need to be answered. All the angles need to be looked at. That takes time -reasonable, responsible, definitive solutions take time, take conversation, and take research. And if you think that the fear will subside after the merger, then look at Guilford, look at Durham, and especially look at Charlotte/Mecklenburg, where they actually showed that after the merger there was a definitive resegregation of schools because schools and redistricting now became battlefields. "By God, I will protect my school at all costs." And that happened and there were poor schools, and there were rich white schools. That occurred and is still occurring in Charlotte/Mecklenburg. And the one thing that I thought of and I hope that you look at the report that came out from Dr. Pederson that the Board was going to look at this evening but ran out of time because we were trying to make it to this meeting. There was a certain amount of wisdom to the 1986 study that took awhile. And there were recommendations that came out of that - recommendations that did not turn into action. Does that mean that we can't take that action now? We can. And as one very final comment, a 7t" point bulletin in Dr. Pedersen's report, it says, "It avoids a merger debate that would divide residents throughout the County and replaces it with a model based on goodwill and trust that two districts can and will collaboratively work effectively together and best serve the students of this County." Thank you. Chair Brown: We ask that if you would like to speak at our next meeting next Thursday at Cedar Ridge High School, please, we would want to hear from you. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adjourn at 11:00 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Margaret Brown, Chair