Minutes - 06-07-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tam Metzguer said that he was willing to pay mare taxes, such as a local district tax in Orange County so that the schools can have what they need. Rick Freeman, principal of Orange High School, said that it has been a wonderful year. He said that the teachers do what they do out of a labor of love because they are committed to what they do for the young people. He said that he tells the staff to always be there each day because if they are not, it is a day lost for a student. He came from Georgia, and just like North Carolina, the state Department of Education in Georgia makes mistakes. He said that the school system that he came from spent 76% of its tax money far education. He said that the program in Orange County was wonderful and he would like to keep it that way. Ann Chockley, a teacher at Orange High School and the chair of the math department, said that she has spent many hours going through an arduous process in coming up with the budget. She said that she had to pare her department's budget even before it was sent to the school board and that it was bare bones. She does not agree with a projection from DPI of a negative 40 students in the Orange County system far this year. Christine Westfall, from the Orange Community Hauling Corporation, read a letter from a new homeowner. The homeowner used to commute 40 minutes because she could not afford to live close to where she worked. The homeowner also has a school-aged child and was not able to spend much time with him because of the tang commute. She said that having affordable housing in the community is very important for the growth and wellbeing of the children. The homeowner now lives at the Legion Road Tawn Homes, which is a 12-minute commute to work. Alison Weiner, Chair of the Community Land Trust In Orange County, spoke about local funding of affordable housing efforts. She gave three facts that were supported by the recent Affordable Housing Task Force report: 1. Our community clearly values and cares about meeting the needs of all folks along the housing continuum. 2. There is an undeniable and increasing need for safe, decent, and affordable housing throughout the housing continuum from single-occupancy units to single-family dwellings. 3. We are unable to develop housing to meet this need without subsidy. If it could be done, the private sector would be developing it. She spoke in favor of implementing the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Task Farce, which include developing and allocating a dedicated local housing fund as well as County bond funding and developing and supporting the capacity of non-profit and other willing providers to cooperatively plan, develop, and maintain affordable rental and owner-occupied housing. She suggested committing more local funding to affordable housing to develop long- term affordable lifestyles far the citizens. Judy Braman asked the County Commissioners to not allow these kids to ga backwards. She mentioned three teachers that mean a lot to her because they are the teachers of her children. She spoke as a finance director and asked the County Commissioners to search behind the numbers and the graphs because she knows they can be tweaked. Anne Stewart was signed up but was not present to speak. Rosalind Council spoke in support of subsidy funding far early childhood education. She said that there was a crisis in North Carolina because of their Smart Start program. She said that subsidy funding supports parents being able to work and having good childcare. She said that when she had cancer, subsidy funding allowed her to have good childcare. Her son has also received many services through subsidy funding. She spoke about a person she spoke with that only works to receive the health insurance for her family because all of the money she makes goes to paying for childcare for her three preschool children. Steve Lockwood, a parent at Hillsborough Elementary School, said that he is extremely proud of Orange County schools. He fully supports Superintendent Bridges' 15°~ increase. He is willing to give $100 of his federal tax refund to the budget.