Minutes 05-25-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Victoria Templeton is a mother of two elementary school children and she is a volunteer. She said that they moved from a family community across the country to come only for the school system because where they came from, the schools had become so bad. They came for the public school offerings and the quality of life. She said that this area is a beacon for families to come. She said that CHCCS has a nationally recognized school system and for parents this is a really great school system attached to a great community. She suggested using the school system to market the economy and increase funding for the schools. Sharon Barrett is a parent of school kids and they chose to live here rather than in Wake County. She said that the current level of per pupil funding is down from five years ago and Durham County is making Orange County look bad, since Durham County is raising taxes to fund their schools. She said that they are willing to pay more taxes to support education. Liz Buchman is President of McDougle Elementary School and she thanked the County Commissioners for making education a priority and she implored them to approve the budget. Jean Earnhart spoke about economic development and said that it seems that they have been having this conversation for at least 20 years. She said that the County Commissioners have a good strategic plan and she hopes that they will unanimously approve this. She hopes that they are not having the same conversation 20 years from now. She believes that if the County Commissioners adopt the economic development plan, then it will help everyone. Amy Martin Jewell said that her family moved here from Chicago solely for the school system. She is a parent of a child who has a mental health issue and is also academically gifted. She said that their community has lost mental health services, and thus they turn to the school systems. She said that the public school systems outside the core services may be cut due to reduced funding. She would support a tax increase to support the school system. Jane Kerwin thanked the County Commissioners for their support. She is a parent of children in the school system. She asked the County Commissioners to continue to support education. Christina Burden represented the Frank Porter Graham School Improvement Team and she said that they want to encourage the County Commissioners to support and fund the school boards' budgets. Elizabeth Welsby is the Parent Co-Chair of the Estes Hills School Improvement Team, and she has three children in the school district. She asked the County Commissioners to support the Manager's recommendation and also to fully fund the capital needs budget. Ashley Thomas thanked the County Commissioners for providing the human services grants to outside agencies. She was representing Bridge to Sports, which creates opportunities for sporting programs for children and adults with disabilities. She asked the County Commissioners to fund the grant for this year to help to serve this vulnerable population. Delores Bailey is the Executive Director of Empowerment, Inc., and she asked the Board to fund them through the Human Services grant process. She said that they are working hard to increase affordable housing and affordable rentals in Orange County. Gary Wallach has a child in CHCCS system. He said that it is possible to make this job easier. He said that one of the reasons it is so hard is that the idea starts with taxes and raising money. The idea should really start with the vision for the community. He said that he was in support of a tax increase of a '/4-cent sales tax to support education. Joe Kennedy has three children in the Chinese dual language program and he urged the County Commissioners to avoid levels of funding that resembles Humpty Dumpty cuts, where things are being taken apart that cannot be easily put back together. He said that the level of funding contemplated by the school budget is going to result in these sorts of cuts because programs will be hurt and the negative effects will continue years later. He said that if the dual language program does not continue past elementary school, the hard work will largely be lost. Lindley Minn is PTSA president at Chapel Hill High. She made reference to the people wearing red who are representing their schools and committees. She said that each one is