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2 PRESENTATION FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLS Dr. Andrew Overstreet made reference to the school budget document and noted that there is a need to address the $270,000 shortfall from last year. This was money they took from their fund balance to fund their budget for this year as directed by the County. This money was spent for recurring capital because there were no other funds. They consider as their base budget 6.8 million. John Link stated that a decision needs to be made on what amount the County wants each school system to keep in their fund balance and the amount they can go beyond that figure. Also, a decision needs to be made on what should be included in the expansion and continuation budgets and if everything that is termed continuation should be automatically funded. Commissioner Halkiotis expressed a concern with the amount of the utility budgets for each system -- $800, 000 for Orange County and 1.2 million for Chapel Hill/Carrboro. Dr. Overstreet made reference to the salary study and noted that in the local equity funding category on page seven there is a 10% salary supplement increase. It was pointed out that 80% of the supplements in Chapel Hill are paid from the district tax. Orange County teachers receive supplements of either 5 or 6% and Chapel Hill/Carrboro teachers receive supplements starting at 1% and going as high as 25%. Commissioner Willhoit stated that they should look at merger and not increase the disparity between the supplements. Commissioner Willhoit suggested that he is in favor of increasing money for supplements when the two systems get together and agree on a similar schedule. Kay Singer, County School Board member, stated that they don't have the tax base in the Orange County system to have a district tax. Commissioner Gordon stated that the only way to move toward equity is to define equity. CHAPEL HILL/CARRBORO SCHOOLS Mary Bushnell stated that she hopes that the Board of Commissioners can find a way to increase her system's portion of the budget. They will increase their efforts to find outside funding. They plan to implement a volunteer effort and will be pursuing Communities in Schools Program. It has been proven that we need to do a better job with the young children at the very beginning. Superintendent Neil Pedersen highlighted items from their continuation and additional continuation budget. He noted that with regard to their fund balance, they appropriated $750, 000 for next years budget. The additional continuation budget is driven by the 6.3% increase in enrollment or 430 new students expected next year. He questioned if the $336, 500 for middle school start-up costs should be paid from capital or the operating budget. The expansion budget totals $490, 665 which includes a violence prevention program, drug intervention program and staff development. They have included in their budget what they expect to receive from the State. It was suggested that the fund balance be used to fund one-time items like the new school start-up costs.