Orange County NC Website
open the schools have been paid by the countywide tax. So when they go back and do <br />this analysis, I am not exactly sure how all this will play out, but I do want them to do the <br />analysis. The other thing is I'm assuming that whatever we do we are going to hold bath <br />districts harmless. I'm assuming in the operating expenses we will be holding the <br />Orange County System harmless because the whole point is to give more money to the <br />Orange County System, so I'm assuming they would be getting more money. I just want <br />to make that point. I guess my point is that to me the key issue is funding, because if <br />both school systems had equal funding, per pupil funding, then I'm not sure we would be <br />here talking about merger. Merger is a bigger question than equality of funding and <br />correcting of disparities. So I think whatever we do we would want to work on trying to <br />make sure that all our students have opportunities in this County to get an excellent <br />education. The question is how do we go about it. <br />John Link: Commissioner Gordan, just as a clarification on your first two questions, as I <br />recall, related to impact on students in terms of transportation, impact in terms of certain <br />programming issues, those questions would need to be answered by the school <br />systems. <br />Commissioner Gordon: Well I'm sure you would be asking the school districts. <br />John Link: I'm making a statement because that is something the County staff cannot <br />do. Those are examples of questions that are very valid, but I would say if you asked <br />the County staff to do that we would have to hire a consultant to assist the school <br />systems to do that. So the reason I am raising the point is to make sure the two school <br />superintendents can respond as to whether or not they can do that. <br />Commissioner Carey: And it would have to be done between now and the first public <br />hearing. <br />John Link: We are assuming that all these items of information are to be brought back <br />to the Commissioners for your November work session. <br />Commissioner Carey: I had a couple of other comments I wanted to make, one was in <br />response to Commissioner Cordon's requests, and I think we should try to provide the <br />information to look back to see what the historical increases have been. But I'm not sure <br />how instructive that is going to be for the future because, as she indicated, and I'm glad <br />she made the point that over the last 5 years we made certain decisions related to <br />opening of new schools and certain of those conditions for both school systems are not <br />likely to repeat themselves over the next 5 years regardless of whether we merge or not. <br />So we ought to take a look at those historical increases but I'm not sure they will be <br />instructive because we don't know that the same set of scenarios will play themselves <br />out over the next 5 years regardless of what we do, whether we stay the same or <br />whether we merge. But we just need to take that into consideration as we view that <br />information that you are putting together. The other question that I had and I think that <br />you have answered it, relates to whether you took into consideration the land use plan <br />and the growth that we expect in the County in both systems over the term of the 10 <br />years ar the 5 years but I think you said you used the figures that were in the SAPFO, <br />and that did take into consideration some of those, so you have answered my question. <br />John Link: Yes <br />