Minutes - 20030929 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

going to be as the programs and funding disappears and the County takes on the responsibilities the State has put on it. She would like to pull together a small group to track this. Betty Tom Phelps Davidson said that Judge Devine has spoken about the need for keeping children in school and trying to reduce the numbers of suspensions. She said that there needs to be an alternative school in place far children with mental health and other concerns. Gloria Foley said that there is an alternative school in Chapel Hill that is working very well. She said that the High School Reform Committee has been discussing the issue of mental health. Chair Brawn asked for this information sa they could coordinate e. School Fund Balance Policy John Link said that the County Commissioners discussed the desirable level of fund balance for each school system during the budget work sessions. The present policy has OCS at 2.7°~ of expenditures and CHCCS at 5.5°l0 of expenditures. The policy has been in place since 1986. Commissioner Jacobs said that at the last budget season, there were large deviations from what the fund balances were and he asked about the purpose of the policy. He asked if the targets should be reexamined. If there are targets, they should be met. Dana Thompson would like to revisit the idea of how to set the fund balance. Within Orange County Schools, they depend an fund balance as they construct new schools and far startup casts. She would like to aim for a larger fund balance aver time. Superintendent Pedersen said that the County has a policy that says the fund balance should be 5.5°~ as a maximum. The school board has a policy of having a fund balance of 5.5°l0. They have slipped below this percentage for a number of the past years. He said that this has not caused any problems. They did reduce their contingency fund. Finance Director Ken Chavious said that the CHCCS since 1996 has only exceeded the 5.5°~ fund balance two times. They do not have the current year numbers yet. These numbers should be out in October. He said that in 1986 OCS was not building any buildings so there were no startup Casts. Commissioner Jacobs suggested a proposal that works for each school system instead of using an arbitrary target. Superintendent Pedersen said that the other issue with fund balance is how the money is used. For CHCCS, it is not used for one time expenses. For the past several years they have been carrying forward $1.5 million to fund ongoing expenses. (Topics of r"merest identified by CHCCS are addressed r"n item #9 on this agenda} 4. CountylOCS/CHCCS Informational Reports a. 2443-44 Adopted School Budgets b. 24t" Day Student Membership for 2443-44 Superintendent Pedersen said that the State had a good year and only missed by eight students. DPI was on target for the total number of students.