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the County. Last week a speaker asked us why don't we just move to Chapel Hill? And the answer is because of that little boy and hundreds like him. Because our teachers need parents who can volunteer, who can give attention where they can't? Mostly, because I want my children to be in classrooms that reflect the real world -messy, poverty, and all. Because we love our homes and our communities and our hearts don't stop at the rural buffer. Our friends say, "But you knew the schools were lousy when you moved there. Yau chose the long bus rides. You can afford a bigger house in the County." I chose the County schools because I know education starts at home, and I know my children will always be fine. I want them to sit alongside others who are less fortunate. I want them to share. I want them to help others. Same parents aren't here tonight because they don't have enough money for gas, ar they're working a night shift as a second job, or they aren't even aware of this conversation because they have troubles of their own. These kids ride busses the longest. They are the first ones on at 6:15 in the morning and they ride for an hour or more. Then they get to school where they get free breakfast, because they didn't get it at home. Those are some tax dollars well spent. I'm sorry so much of this debate has come dawn to the haves and have- nots. I look forward to the day when all grownups in this auditorium agree that it's time to give equal opportunities to all the children in the County. Thank you. Eleanor Allison: My name is Eleanor Allison; I live on Night Farm Road in Chapel Hill. I have two kids that ga to Grady Brawn School. My kids are closer to McDougle School. It takes about 15 minutes to get to McDougle. And my kids are an the bus for about 4Q minutes going to Grady A. Brown. I would prefer them to continue going to the Orange County School because it's a great school to go to. The Grady A. Brawn has a reading recovery program, which is a great program because both of my kids was in the reading recovery in first grade and it helped them with their reading. We need funding far the program to continue because we didn't get it this year. But if the school merged, we will still have to pay more taxes, and the Chapel Hill schools will pay less tax, which is not fair. We need equal funding for both schools. The children are our future, so why not give an equal funding for both schools? I feel that if we merge the school system, our kids will get lost in the system. Thank you. Christopher McLaurin: Hi. My name is Christopher McLaurin, and I'm the Chapel Hill High School Student Government President. The student government at Chapel Hill High School has taken the official stance that until more information is gathered and more input from students is received, the County Commissioners should delay any vote an merger. At last week's public forum at Chapel Hill High School I shared with you that many students feel that they have not been given a real opportunity to share their feelings and views on merger. This is a major problem seeing that students will be most affected. I am a senior, sa any change to the current setup will not affect me. However, I feel that this is a major issue that requires more reflection and therefore, no decision should be made until all factors have been considered. I would like you all to know that the Chapel Hill High School Student Government is in the process of contacting the Student Government for the other three high schools in an attempt to get together and talk about this issue. The purposes of such a meeting would be to share more information about our respective school systems, understand the challenges and