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roof on Ephesus Elementary School and will spending about $800,000 on technology which will be a recurring expense. Commissioner Carey asked if this is the first time the roof at Ephesus is being replaced in 25 years and Superintendent Pedersen said yes. 2. County Capital and Debt Management Policies John Link gave background information on these two policies. He said that in February 1998, the Board of Commissioners updated the County's capital funding policy. The most significant change is an increase in the level of project detail required in County and school capital project ordinances and ordinance amendments. The Board also reviewed and edited a proposed debt management policy that will help ensure that the County maintains a sound debt position, that its credit quality is protected, and that demonstrates a commitment to long term financial planning objectives. Rod Visser said that our present bond rating is AA+. Part of the justification for an AAA bond rating is to show that we have taken all measures when incurring debt and that we know exactly how the money is being spent, timetable, etc. When the scope of a project changes or the amount has increased, the County will expect the school system to initiate that change through a project ordinance. DEBT MANAGEMENT POLICY Ken Chavious said that this policy provides guidance on the issuance of debt to help ensure that the County maintains a sound debt position and that its credit quality is protected. Also, this debt management policy will allow for an appropriate balance between establishing debt parameters and providing flexibility to respond to unforeseen circumstances and/or new opportunities. 3. Adopted School Budgets Chair Margaret Brown said that this came up during our budget deliberations last year. The County Commissioners asked that each of the two school systems prepare a report that outlines the final budgets adopted by each Board of Education for 1997-98. Of particular interest were funds allocated to various new or expanded programs identified in each school district's requested budget, and differences between funds requested and ultimately allocated to these programs. The Board also was specifically interested in brief explanations of the objectives and expected outcomes of any new or expanded programs, in addition to information about the dollars allocated to those programs. Neil Pedersen said that they funded as many enhancements as they could and that they did remain faithful to what they had requested and tried to fund those items that were of highest priority. He said that in terms of major issues in last years budget, last year was the first year they dealt with charter schools and they paid over $400,000 to them last year and this year. They have a lot of growth issues as the student population keeps increasing. Their special population is also increasing. He explained the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program and noted that they are one of three pilot programs in the state. This program is aimed at students, most of whom are African- American, who have the potential to complete a rigorous, college-prep curriculum, including honors and accelerated courses but may not be challenging themselves sufficiently. They have expanded their gifted program making that a K-12 program. They have opened their alternative school in their board room at Lincoln Center and plan to use two mobile units to expand this program next year. Randy Bridges said that overall they have seen some successes with scores on SAT, computer skills, etc. One of the items in their expansion program was for their present year-round program. This