Minutes - 20031204 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I live in Chapel Hill and Orange County and I don't understand why there's so much fear of that. Mr. Carey, I really think you've made a bold step and I would like for the County to be united and I would like to not have to think about if I spend a penny on this side of the border or on this side of the border that it's going to make a difference to children. All children deserve it. If I spend my money at New Hope Commons, I help the children in Durham. All the children deserve the same money. Money matters. Thank you. Jian Li: My name is Jian Li. I come from Chapel Hill City, and I think I can represent about ten families of my neighbors. The single most compelling reason that drives me to stand here to talk to the respected Commissioners and fellow residents of this great place is it seems like the issue is access of money. Who's money do the kids access? Your kids access your money and my kids access my money. It seems the logic by some of the pro-merger people is that there is something wrong with the City parents willing to pay more money to the City school district. Sa it becomes a social issue, an injustice issue. Don't forget, your kids access your money and you need to be willing to pay for your school district. With the confusion of why there is mare money in the City because the City parents are willing to pay more money leads to the merger. I called Commissioner Moses Carey and I tried to let you convince me what you're proposing along this question. And during the phone call you kept debating my question and accused me that you won't be able to convince me because I'm already decided. Actually, I don't really mind merging the two school districts, but it seems the reasoning is wrong to go through the merger. Certainly in the short run, it's going to cause some inconvenience to especially the City parents, or the parents in the City school district. In the long run, yes, I agree with a lot of the County parents. The sky is not falling. And in the long run, we're all going to be ok. But, please don't forget we do have differences. In the conversation with Mr. Carey, you asked me the difference; I wasn't able to answer your question because I was not prepared to answer the question. Now I know there is a lot of difference. One of the big differences seems the parents in the City are willing to pay more money. I'm not sure about the County parents. But based on the past record, heard, in the recent past, a bond was defeated six to one in the County. To me, my impression about the County is parents are not willing to pay more money to their school district. So that's one difference. And that's a big difference. If you merge them, it's going to cause a lot of trouble because how are we going to vote to give more support to our school district? It's going to jam everybody together. We want be able to support our individual needs. And fundamentally, I support smaller districts. And your definition of size of school district, of the separate, is too small. And I think right now we have the right size, and the way it is, is good. I am really opposed to merge into a bigger school district because there's more bureaucracy and there's more overhead. So I highly recommend that people who claim this is a civil rights injustice, I want to ask you to stop high-jacking the idea of civil rights and forcing everybody to go along with you. And stop doing that please. We all respect the idea of civil rights, but don't highjack the idea. Thank you. David Laudicina: I live in Bingham Township, that's in southwest Orange County. Lots of people up here have talked about driving nine miles or driving their kids 45 minutes or more. If my child went to a public school, she would have to drive nine miles. There are lots of kids out there that have to ride over 60 minutes now. I take issue with those people's willingness to put the safety of those children on the line. Currently, we have a system; it's messed up. The operating costs are separate. The building costs are put together. Whatever you do, either merge them or separate them. But if you keep them separate, separate it all. Let us pay for the buildings that we have access ta. I'm tired of