Minutes - 20030125 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Carey said that he fully understands why the Board of County Commissioners may not want to adopt this as a Baal today. He said that this is a radical departure from the normal process. He wants to do the best and right thing for all children. He said that the funding gap is going to continue to get worse if we do not do something about it. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he personally thinks based on what former Senator Howard Lee said last July that there was some study group looking at this issue, it would be good to contact Senator Kinnaird to see what the status of this group is. He suggested having Commissioner Carey and the Chair to meet with the Manager and appropriate staff to get the information database developed and bring it back and maybe adopt it as a goal later on. Just in case the State decides to do it beforehand, then we will have the information and analyze the current situation. Chair Brown said that she has heard so many comments on this subject and some appall her. Other citizens ask why the two systems are not merged. Her interpretation is that for people who are very much opposed to it, many of their issues are based on fear and misunderstandings. She thinks there are real issues and the financial ones are clear. Her understanding was that last year she thought the Commissioners asked staff to come up with how the tax differential would be worked out over a period of time. John Link said that it was discussed, but they were not asked to do it. The staff would be happy to do this. When two school systems are merged, the law requires that you take the highest per pupil from both systems. It would create a significant countywide tax increase, but it would eliminate the Chapel Hill district tax. Chair Brown would like to see a picture of what this would be like and variations. People are going to want answers to questions. She would like to know how we would go about doing this as well as the financial issues. She is astonished by the unequal funding of the two school systems. She is concerned about the northlsouth split perception in the County and people feeling disadvantaged and not getting their fair share. She thinks this issue of merging the two systems could be beneficial to the County in the long run. Commissioner Carey said that the thing people fear most is who is governing it and who is going to charge them and how much it is going to cost. He said that most of the fears are hallucinations and are not likely to come true. Chair Brown said that she is glad Commissioner Carey brought this forward and she would like to move forward and see what needs to come first. It will take a lot of public education. Cammissianer Jacobs said that this issue came up during the last election and all but one candidate said that they were flat opposed to merger. A lot of people have misconceptions and he would like to follow a process and for staff to look at the tax implications and the district tax for the Orange County schools. The fundamental disparity between the two systems is based on financial considerations. One option would be to look at trying to equalize funding. He thinks that Cammissianer Carey is being kind about using the word "hallucinations." He was thinking about writing something about social bigotry. He made reference to a parent in the CHCCS system that said that if parents cared about education they would live in Chapel Hill and that they did not want their children associated with people from the Orange County system. He thinks it is his role as an elected official to confront bigotry where he sees it. He also thinks there is a lot of thoughtful opposition and a lot of thoughtful questions. The County Commissioners' jab is to sort through the issues.