Minutes - 05-31-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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budget in the way that it is proactively dealing with growth. He indicated his strong support of the task force on the bond referendum. He said that the growth and the expenses far growth have swallowed up any budget increase for a number of years for both school systems. He said that he has only heard the Board of County Commissioners regard the 49% funding for schools as the threshold. He has never heard anyone else talk about what is so special about 49%. He asked the Commissioners to consider the needs an the basis of merit rather than on the basis of a formula ar percentage. He supports the full funding of the school budget, but even if the district tax was increased by two cents in addition to the County Manager's recommendation, it would go a long way in improving the educational programs for the students in both systems. Graig Meyer is a parent of a third grader at Grady Brown Elementary School. He is in favor of raising taxes. He does not see what the magic is about the 50 °l° limit of educational funding on the budget. He also reiterated the requests of Volunteers for Youth and the Dispute Settlement Center and encouraged the Board to fully fund their requests as well. Jack Chestnut, from the Advisory Board on Aging, mentioned the master aging plan. He said that the Advisory Board on Aging was requesting that the County Commissioners support the adult day care initiative by allocating $50,000. The adult day care program is a tap priority for the year 2002 in the master aging plan. The adult day care services would provide respite far the caregivers. The adult day care program gives the residents a place to go during the day for social interactions and to have a good meal. He said that the master aging plan has shown that the population of seniors between 65-$5 is growing at a rapid rate. Other agencies have agreed to help with utilities and start-up costs. He asked that the Commissioners support this initiative. Heidi Aycock is a parent of two children at Carrboro Elementary School and is also on the school governance council. She said that the most compelling reason to fully fund the school budget was that the accountability movement has made parents ask so much mare of their children than ever before and our overstuffed landscape is making us consume our resources so much faster than we ever have. She asked haw we could demand more from our children and not give them the bare minimum that is needed to serve them. Jill Rigsbee said that she respects the enormous task of the County Manager and his staff as well as the Board of County Commissioners. She asked the Commissioners to support the school systems' budget as presented by the schools. She said that educators are our friends in that they are working hard to educate as many children as possible so that they will become taxpaying citizens of Orange County. She knows that uneducated adults and adults in poor health become a drain on the system instead of a support. Madeline Mitchell is a parent of a seventh grader at McDougal Middle School and co-Chair of the school governance committee. She has had children in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school system almost every year for the past 24 years. She spoke about the items that would not be funded if the recommended Manager's budget is adopted. She does think the Board is dodging the buck if needs are not met and if the increase only reflects state-mandated items. She spoke about proficiency standards and said that same of the students would not pass the tests unless there are programs in place that would provide the support. Over $300,000 has been cut from the budget that would support this. She spoke about how our district as a whole is struggling in that our minority students are doing less well than minority students in other portions of the state. Regarding curriculum resources, she said that our teachers are stretched to the max to provide the enrichment that many of the students need to succeed. Our teachers cannot coordinate curricula resources and develop supportive programs for our diverse student population and do what they have been hired to do, which is teach. She said that the budget request was pared dawn significantly before it reached County hands. She asked that the Board please provide the resources needed to serve all of the children well. She said that comparing the absolute amount of per pupil expenditure across districts is like comparing apples and oranges. She asked how often in the last 20 years had the DPI projections been too low. Michelle Rivest is the Executive Director of Orange County Partnership for Young Children, which is the Smart Start agency. She is here to support the Manager's request for childcare subsidies far law-income children of working parents. She said that 20°l° of all children in Orange County live in poverty. She said that typically 90°I° of the funds for Smart Start are going to families earning less than