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- Implement the Orange-Person-Chatham Mental Health business and financial plans associated with State mandated reforms of mental health system - Major reworking of the County's comprehensive land use plan - Joint park and recreation facilities Commissioner Gordon asked about one cent on the general property tax and one cent on the district tax and what they are equivalent to. It was answered that far the Countywide property tax, it is $970,000, and for the district tax, it is $623,000. Public Comment: Tom Rankin spoke about the Orange County Schools. He thanked the County Commissioners far their commitment to education. He asked the Board to fully fund the OCS budget. He said that the County Manager's recommendation sets back the progress that has been made. He said that a few programs that could be dropped as a result of this proposed budget include Spanish teachers in elementary schools, International Baccalaureate program at Cedar Ridge, Reading teachers, etc. Secondly, he spoke about the inequity of the funding between the two school systems. He said that this should never become one system against the other. He said that the community first has to identify this as a problem and he does not believe that we have done this. He urged the community to do something about it. Bob Shreiner, Chair of Board of Trustees of the Chapel Hill Public Library, asked for support for all public libraries in the County. He distributed a handout and thanked the County Commissioners for their support. He asked that the County's support be raised to the State average. The Board of Trustees has completed a master plan for the library. The recommendations include technology improvements and other service improvements over the next few years, as well as an expansion of the building. Mary Purcell is a Reading Recovery teacher at Central Elementary School (OCS}. She said that she is one of the teachers that the State of North Carolina considers non- essential since she does not have 20 or more children assigned to her. She thanked the County Commissioners for their support. She said that 70°~ of the students at Central qualify for free and reduced lunch and 80% of students in first grade did not meet the basic reading readiness standards. She spoke on behalf of Central parents that could not be here tonight. She said that they desperately need additional reading positions at Central. She said that the budget proposed by the County Manager makes it impossible far these positions to be funded and puts her jab in jeopardy. She left 60 letters from parents asking the County Commissioners to support the OCS budget in its entirety. She spoke about her opinion of the disparity in the two school systems and said that she believes that the issues of disparity and inequity relate directly to the school funding issues and to the merger issue. She thanked the County Commissioners for putting merger on the table. Robert Nutter said that he went to the Orange County School Board meeting Monday night and he said that they are short of money and are not able to fund reading teachers. He said that before he got home, he learned that they were sodding the football field at Cedar Ridge High School, and he wondered if this was more important than funding reading teachers.