Minutes - 19991213 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

I Commissioner Brown asked about the student enrollment figures for 2005. She said 2 that she was amazed by these projections. 3 Roger Waldon said that page 11 of the report is the best guess for projections. 4 Commissioner Brown made reference to page 7 and the standards for elementary, 5 middle, and high schools and said that the standards are not the same for the three schools. 6 Roger Waldon said that in the next phase of these reports the standards and what is 7 meant in terms of numbers would be addressed. 9 b. Communities in Schools 10 This was included in discussions earlier in this meeting. 11 12 c. Proposal for School Board Taxing Authority 13 Elizabeth Carter said that each year the state school board gives each school system a 14 list of priorities and each board has to set priorities with what the state brings forth. She said 15 that School Board Taxing Authority was the top priority across the state of North Carolina. She 16 said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board hoped that some of the conversations about the 17 School Board Taxing Authority could be started locally to make the County Commissioners a 18 part of this issue. She said that this issue did not pass unanimously with the Chapel Hill- 19 Carrboro School Board. 20 Susan Halkiotis said that the Orange County School Board also did not pass the 21 resolution unanimously. She stressed that the school system has been treated well through the 22 County Commissioners' generosity. However, the issue of accountability is put squarely on the 23 heads of the people who are spending money. 24 Chair Carey said that there is probably not any unanimity of opinion of this subject on 25 any of the boards. His concern in the resolution is in the last "Whereas", where it implied that 26 the school boards should not be held accountable for not fulfilling the needs of the children if the 27 school boards did not have taxing authority. He said that if you spend money you ought to be 28 held accountable regardless of whether you have taxing authority or not. 29 Elizabeth Carter said that the school board sought to change parts of the resolution 30 because it implied things that did not happen within the district. She thinks the school boards 31 should be held accountable. 32 Keith Cook said that across the state there are a number of individuals and Boards of 33 Education who are dissatisfied with the level of funding that is received from the County 34 Commissioners. These are the school districts that are supporting this proposal for school 35 board taxing authority. 36 John Link said that he talked to Ed Regan, the Deputy Director of the North Carolina 37 Association of County Commissioners. He said that there is one issue that the sample 38 resolution does not address, and that the School Board Association needs to be prepared to 39 address sooner than later. This issue is that the state statute provides for $1.50 maximum tax 40 levy by the County Commissioners. He thinks the School Board Association needs to be 41 prepared to address how the school boards propose to initiate the delineation between school 42 boards and County Commissioners on the property tax. 43 Bob Bateman said that the Orange County School Board has discussed this issue but 44 because there are many questions, there has not been any action taken on this item. His 45 concern is that with three taxing bodies, the $1.50 tax levy very well may be in jeopardy. 46 47 d. Capital Project Ordinance Approval - Glenwood Elementary Renovation 48 Chair Carey said that the County Commissioners had some questions about this item 49 because there was a possibility of Glenwood Elementary School being phased out. 50 Superintendent Neil Pedersen said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System 51 has no plans to close any of their elementary schools within the next 5-10 years. He said that 52 Glenwood Elementary School is about 40 years old and needs some upkeep.