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would be a huge waste of taxpayer money because Chapel Hill does not need that amount of increase in per pupil funding on top of the district tax. In the same article, John Link was quoted as saying, "I am comfortable with my proposal." The proposal was to fund 98.2% of the CHCCS and 84.9°~ of the OCS. This makes her feel very uncomfortable. Each year, the discrepancy gets larger and CHCCS adds expansion items, while OCS cuts back on existing programs. She hopes that a solution would help all of Orange County and not just CHCCS. She recommended that the County Commissioners fund the OCS fully as requested, and lower the city schoal district tax to a level that still gives Chapel Hill what they have requested. She said that she does not understand the argument that Orange County Schools cannot have what they requested because Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has too much and at the same time raising the district tax. She realizes that Orange County spends the highest percentage of the budget on schools in the State, but Orange County is not what it is today because we follow the standards set by others. Stephanie Decker requested that the budget for the next school year be readdressed. She said that OC5 will have to cut programs and items from the current operating budget and eliminate the expanded budget items altogether. She is PTO president at Efland-Cheeks. She said that they need new doors and new security camera monitors, as well as a fence around the playground. They have also requested a proximity card system. The children at Efland-Cheeks have been exposed to two incidences involving guns. Without the money in the budget, the school board cannot act on their request. She asked that the County Commissioners approve 100% of the budget for OCS. Libbie Hough is a parent of two OCS children. She said that she realizes that Orange County is lucky that almost 50% of the budget is spent on education. However, something is amiss. For the last three years, she has heard that the low funding was because of the opening of two new schools and low or negative growth projections from DPI. But this year they expect a lot of new students. This year, if the proposed budget is adopted, they could be facing a $1.2 million shortfall in the continuation budget. They need elementary reading teachers, Spanish teachers, etc. She said that the district tax for Chapel Hill now threatens to undermine the quality of education in Orange County Schools. This was not anticipated when the district tax was put in place, but things have changed. She believes in a district tax for Orange County Schools because she believes that the children and teachers deserve all the resources we can give them. She asked that everyone put their heads together to address the inequities that exist between the two school systems. Michael Jones is a resident of Orange County and he asked that the County Commissioners fully fund the Orange County Schools' request. The OCS Board is only asking far things that are absolutely essential to maintain the current standards and to achieve the 21St century goal set forth by the OCS administrators. He asked the County Commissioners to do what it takes to meet the funding request. Anne Lutes has a daughter at Grady Brown School and said that she is deeply disturbed by the proposed budget and the disparity between the two school districts. She said that this budget is only going to make the gap wider. She said that her daughter's teachers have asked the parents for copier paper for two years because the school system cannot afford to buy it. She said that there could not possibly be any fat in this budget. She also does not understand why the district tax is being raised.