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Chair Carey asked Dr. Grumet to make this presentation to both school boards. The <br />Board of County Commissioners needs to know what the school boards think about the report. <br />He hopes that the school boards find a way to get this information to parents. <br />Commissioner Gordon thanked Dr. Grumet for gathering the data. She said that the <br />recommendations confirm and differentiate what might need to be done. She has thought for a <br />long time that the OCS needed more resources. <br />Dr. Grumet made reference to the resources to the central office and said that having <br />people in the central office to work with both systems can help with communication and <br />curriculum alignment. She said that Orange County is struggling without having people in <br />specialty areas to provide this kind of leadership that CHCCS is able to do. <br />Dr. Grumet thanked the County Commissioners for recognizing the effort that went into <br />this project. She thanked Amy Anderson and Professor Rita O'Sullivan. <br />John Link said that he appreciates this report, but he is troubled on pages 53-54 where it <br />says, "Differences in staffing, numbers of support personnel specialists may be significant at <br />addressing achievement differences." Also, on page 54, where it says, "While not any one of <br />the differences appears to be critical in and of itself, the aggregate of the personnel disparities <br />may diminish the individualized attention OCS students receive...." He said that it would be <br />much more helpful if the word was "will" and not "may". This is important when they go to the <br />taxpayers and say that more funding needs to be pursued because they "will" make a <br />difference. This would help in moving forward. <br />Commissioner Foushee agreed with John Link and said that it seems to her that it is clear <br />that the additional support is necessary in order to make a difference in achievement levels of <br />students in the OCS at the middle and high school level. It is clear that this support is <br />absolutely necessary. <br />Dr. Grumet said that they were a little cautious because they know that there are elements <br />involved in successful schooling that are not synonymous with resources. She said that there is <br />a strong sense in education that it is terribly important that teachers in the communities feel that <br />all children can learn. She said that this report was not able to provide a cultural description of <br />what it is like to be a student in these schools. They would have had to speak with students and <br />families. She said that achievement data only tells so much of the story. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that they did not need a report to know that more resources <br />and more personnel would be advantageous. Both school systems feel like they need more <br />resources. He would hope that the school systems would think about some kind of phased and <br />prioritized proposals about what they need in order to address the weaknesses and improve the <br />strengths that are identified in this report. He thinks this would be the greatest value. <br />With na further items to address, the meeting was adjourned at 7:18 p.m. in preparation <br />for the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. <br />Moses Carey, Jr., Chair <br />Donna S. Baker <br />Clerk to the Board <br />