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schools. He has notified the principals of the visits, and he has not heard from Dr. Grumet <br />since. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that this report is supposed to come back in November and he <br />asked John Link to contact Dr. Grumet to make sure they are still on schedule. <br />c. School Efficiency Study (Orange County Major Issue) <br />John Link said that the third area the County Commissioners discussed was school efficiency. <br />In this case, it is the operations of the schools, which includes everything from copier leases to <br />utility costs. He met with the two school superintendents in August and they thought it would be <br />a good idea to confirm what has already been accomplished in terms of efficiency over the last <br />several years, which is shown in the summary. <br />John Link said that they also had a chance to talk with Bob Segal -Chair Jacobs, <br />Commissioner Halkiotis, and other County staff were involved. Bob Segal was in attendance <br />and John Link said that he has helped the County and the school systems through the years <br />with efficiency. The Board of County Commissioners talked about this last week and agreed <br />that it would be a good idea for Bob Segal to examine the County and the two school systems. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that Bob Segal is very frugal and he looks to find ways of saving <br />money. <br />Commissioner Carey made reference to his comments during the Board of County <br />Commissioners' meeting and said that it would be good to go beyond the savings issue and <br />provide information to the Board that might be used to help understand the two school systems. <br />He said that the Board will need this, and Mr. Segal mayor may not agree to provide this. The <br />other thing that is important to him is to have the result of Mr. Segal's work by the end of the <br />year. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked Bob Segal to came forward and comment. <br />Bob Segal distributed some brochures to describe his company. He said that his firm is the only <br />CPA firm in North Carolina dedicated exclusively to non-personnel expense reduction and <br />revenue enhancement consulting. They work with about 20 school districts across the state <br />and 50 county governments to improve their cash flow. The firm consists of three CPAs. <br />Bab Segal said that they have never been asked by County Commissioners and school boards <br />to try to do collaborative purchasing, but they have consolidated purchasing within county <br />government. There are opportunities to save money by collaborating purchases. Some <br />examples of volume driven purchases include copier services, cell phone minutes, etc. He is <br />willing to look at this to see if there is a savings. Regarding the time, he does not know how <br />long it will take. They do have a plan of action and they are willing to work with the three <br />organizations. <br />Chair Jacobs said that the Board of County Commissioners will be responsible with negotiating <br />a contract and he asked if the school boards were willing to work with the County and Mr. Segal <br />on this. <br />AI Hartkopf said that he would be very happy to work with Bob Segal on this. He asked about <br />the timing. <br />