Minutes - 06-07-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elementary, as well as other needed positions. The expansion items make up 18°~ of the recommended budget. He said that the budget request that the Commissioners were seeing was cut way down from the requests that were received from the schools. He said that there was a shortage of $243,358 to cover the mandates and the start-up costs for Pathways Elementary. He said that if Pathways Elementary was opened this year and the mandates were funded, none of the expansion items would be addressed. He asked that the County Commissioners increase funding far the Orange County schaol system to cover some items in their expansion budget. Commissioner Gordon asked if there were any items in the expansion budget that were priorities. Superintendent Bridges said that the priority was the reading teacher at Hillsborough Elementary School. Susan Halkiatis said that their budget has been funded at 94.1 °~. The requested increase for this year has been funded 55.5% in a year that they are starting up a new school. The Orange County school system does not have enough money to start up the new Elementary school. She thinks that a mistake was made to set a target at 48.2% of the County's general fund for the schools. She said that this allocation would have yielded $3,333 per student. The growth in the schools was not taken into account -the new schools and additional students. She made reference to the joint meetings between the school boards and the County Commissioners and said that the purpose of this was to let the County Commissioners know ahead of time what new initiatives were on the horizon. She said that mergers, district taxes, or district-wide taxes are solutions for the future but not for this year when they are trying to open new schools. She feels that the schools have been very deliberate and efficient in planning for the new elementary school and high school. She made reference to the trees that were cut on the Grady Brown property in the clearing activities for the new high schaol. She said that an ordinance was overlooked and it would be mitigated. The Orange County School system will approach the contractor. However, if the contractor does not cooperate, she asked if they should sue, and if sa, if taxpayer's money should be used. She asked that a packet be put together for outside contractors so that this mistake does not happen again. She said that the Orange County school board was faced with a decision of whether or not to leave a new school empty or to open it and not fund again the expansion items that have been on the list for a number of years. Keith Cook made reference to the record of achievement that Chapel Hill-Carrbara City Schools talked about this evening. He said that the Orange County Schools have enough money to pay bills and that is it. The Orange County school board is concerned and they want to have the same achievement that Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools have. He does not feel that items like new school startup costs should be part of their budget, but that they should be a separate item. He said that the citizens who spoke up at the public hearings were asking the County Commissioners to raise taxes in order for their children to continue getting a goad education. He asked that the County Commissioners look at what has been allocated to the Orange County Schools and increase that amount so they can do more than just pay bills. Rick Kennedy feels that the County Commissioners are holding the schaol system back and undercutting the kids. With reference to the special district tax, a new Elementary School could be built each year with the $10 million that would be generated. Chapel Hill has the benefit of having water and sewer and the rural buffer and can expand their growth. Orange County does not have these benefits. He made reference to the mistake that was made with the trees at the new high school site and compared it to the damage that has been done on Eubanks Road and other places in the County. He said that Orange County Schools should not keep paying for this mistake. Brenda Stephens said that she remembers the President's State of the Union Address in January where he said that if we demand more from our schools, we must invest more in our schools. Delores Simpson said that we are here far a common purpose. What the Orange County School Board has asked for is reasonable and certainly not as much as is needed. The School Board has concluded that these are the things that are needed. She asked that the County Commissioners reconsider what was presented by the school board. Bob Bateman said that the school board voted unanimously for the budget that was presented. The school board felt that the Superintendent and staff did a tremendous jab in preparing and presenting the budget. He believes that the County Commissioners have a fund balance that can be used. He said that maybe when opening new schools, the County's fund balance could be used.