Minutes - 19990608 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Superintendent Neil Pedersen said that this would cover expenses that they did not know about ahead of time. It has been used to support an exceptional education teacher and unanticipated situations that the school system is mandated to address. It was increased last year because of the uncertainty of how Charter schools would affect the budget. Commissioner Jacobs asked about Option Two for the two PREP schools. Superintendent Neil Pedersen said that they frequently use the phase-in approach. John Link asked Superintendent Neil Pedersen about his position on fund balance. It looks like he is increasing the amount of fund balance when he has all of these needs. Superintendent Neil Pedersen said that fund balance is something that is not constant. These monies are used to fund occurring and non-occurring costs. They ended the year with approximately one million dollars in unappropriated fund balance for 97-98. He said that they expect to end this year with 1.3 million dollars. Commissioner Jacobs said that it was helpful to put the needs in priority order. The school system then has the responsibility to change the order of their priorities to fund needs as identified. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about Mary Scroggs Elementary School and if it was designed for 600 students. Neil Pedersen said it has 25 classrooms and they increased the capacity by using the 23 and 25 class size. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the only discussion he recalled of getting into a contingency issue was five years ago. Contingency in his mind means unforeseen obstacles. He has a problem with any Board asking for a contingency budget. There have been people coming to the County for ESL teachers and/or to address the cap issue. He does not support a line item for contingency. Commissioner Brown asked about the clarification of classroom size. She did not see anything on school capacity numbers this year. She pointed out that listing priorities is good and gives the School Board the flexibility to support those items as they determine necessary. Harvey Goldstein made reference to the contingency fund and said that it has not been treated as a slush fund but has been used to fund non-mandated programs. If it is not used, it goes into the fund balance. They can also take this money and fund line items they think may need additional funding. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the use of this money is open-ended and is not an appropriate use of funds. Chair Gordon asked about the average class size. Superintendent Neil Pedersen said the ratio for K-2 is 23:1 and 26:1 in third through eighth grade. The ratio for ninth grade is 25:1 and the ratio for grades 10-12 is 29:1. Chair Gordon asked what it would cost if those classes were reduced to 22 students in each grade level. Superintendent Neil Pedersen did not know the answer to this question. Chair Gordon asked about the supplement for the two school systems and the difference between the two. Neil Pedersen explained in detail the difference and how the scenario has changed over the last 12 years. In summary, Harvey Goldstein said that Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has a 91 % proficiency in grades one through eight. He said that the funding provided by the County Commissioners has made the difference. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board is asking for additional funding to continue with the progress they have made. He said that the School Board reviewed their budget before they sent it forward to the County Commissioners. They thought very carefully and hard before sending the budget forward. The remaining items are very vital and critical with meeting the covenant they have with the community to support public education. The community is willing to pay higher taxes to maintain that level of support. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board supports their budget in full. There was a meal break and the Board came back together at 8:15 p.m. 3. HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Chair Gordon asked about adding an agenda item for the Hillsborough Board of Adjustment. She explained that there is a vacancy for a County alternate.