Orange County NC Website
Kristine Stolakis: I'm Kristine Stolakis. I'm a 15-year old student from Chapel Hill <br />High School. I would just like to bring up that I'm the second student to talk tonight, <br />which I think is really sad because this issue that you're talking about, the most people it <br />affects is the students and no one is here to represent me. Right now I think I see one <br />other student here, who I know, who happens to be my best friend, and she's here <br />because we're giving her a ride home. Sa the fact that this decision is irreversible and <br />that so many questions are left unanswered really bugs me. I'm an active member of <br />student government and I've had so many kids come up to me and ask me what <br />happens to our cultural arts and our AP programs and am I going to be bussed to a high <br />school like 50 miles away. All the questions that you list up there and say you don't <br />have answers to. And I'm going to go back to my school with no more answers and that <br />really bothers me. You guys talk about how the students are real important in this and <br />you want us to be active in politics. That's all I've heard about since I was little, you <br />know, involve yourself in the community and politics. And I can only involve myself so <br />much, but you have to meet me to halfway. And I'm relatively into this and people that <br />aren't, aren't hearing anything at all. My friend works at a place with a lot of Orange <br />County kids, and a lot of them barely know about the merger. And I think that you need <br />to consider this before you ga and make this decision that's going to affect everyone <br />and everyone doesn't really know what's going on. Thank you for your time. <br />Lisa Stolakis: Just briefly, I just want to say I'm speaking here only on behalf of myself <br />as a parent. I've lived in three school systems. The first system had 2,000 kids, the <br />second school system had 70,000 kids, and then here. And when we moved here a few <br />years back we did look at the larger school systems and I must say that there were pros <br />and cons, but from the deepest depths of my soul at midnight here, I will tell you that it <br />is better in the long run to keep smaller school systems. I've lived in three; I've been a <br />very active volunteer in all three. In the professional side of my life I was a community <br />health educator far aver 15 years, and I've probably taught in more schools than I can <br />remember and in every setting that one can imagine. And I will tell you that in all my <br />years of teaching, in all my years of coordinating health programs, as late as this is, I <br />will say that Mr. Carey, I have a high respect for your desire for equality, I really feel <br />exactly the same way. I used to write grants and try to provide programs equally across <br />the board in my previous life. But for all the years I spent teaching, there's two things I <br />know to be true in heart. The first thing is it's not just about the money, it's about <br />neighborhood schools, going to school where you live, living where you to go school, <br />volunteerism, parental input, supporting teachers and staff, and just being part of the <br />community and neighborhood school system. And the second point I want to make is <br />that I taught I couldn't tell you how many kids. The bottom line, tired children don't <br />learn, no matter how great the program is. If you increase transportation time of kids, it <br />just adds to their fatigue. As it is now, they don't get enough sleep, and we all know <br />that. So I think you really have to seriously look at adding transportation time for the <br />kids. And that to me is really the biggest concern that I think a lot of parents have. I <br />know it's midnight, but if I was to pick one thing that I think is a big concern, it's the lack <br />of knowledge and the lack of being able to answer the question, "How far will my child <br />have to ride the bus". That's what it comes down to for a lot of folks and, "Where will my <br />child end up". I think those are really important questions that you answer before we <br />