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made reference to the second page of his handout and asked that the County Attorney look into <br />this. This is regarding a lawsuit against the U. S. Department of Education for educational <br />funding that was never dispersed. All Orange County has to do is join the lawsuit. The third <br />promise is that he will be back at the end of June. <br />Anna Mercer-McLean is the Director of Community Schools for People Under Six. She <br />spoke on behalf of childcare subsidy for children 0-5 in Orange County. She thanked the <br />County Commissioners for the support last year that served 46 children. They are requesting <br />that the County Commissioners commit $500,000 in this budget to provide subsidy for all 0-5 <br />year olds on the waiting list for DSS and Child Care Services. There are approximately 432 <br />children on the waiting list at this time. <br />Anna Mercer-McLean also spoke about the tennis program in OCS. She represents the <br />Durham-Orange Community Tennis Association. They are asking for support and to upgrade <br />Orange High School tennis courts, which are in bad shape and very unsafe for use in the <br />community. There are six courts, and they need $25,000 to repair the courts. They are also <br />asking that the tennis courts at Cedar Ridge be available to the public. She pointed out the <br />pictures of tennis courts at Orange High School, Chapel Hill High School, and East Chapel Hill <br />High School. <br />Nancy Safrit spoke on behalf of the School Governance Committee of Smith Middle <br />School. She said that they ask the County Commissioners to fully fund the budget request for <br />CHCCS. This request would continue services at their current levels, and there are no extras in <br />this budget. She said that if this budget is not fully funded, their middle schools might suffer the <br />most because elementary students must be supervised and high school students have <br />requirements to graduate. Smith Middle School students range in age from 10 to 16, and they <br />need their after school program and their School Resource Officer. <br />Jeff Danner is a father of two at Seawell Elementary and a member of the Seawell STC. <br />He spoke in support of full funding for the CHCCS budget. He asked the County <br />Commissioners to think back to when they chose to run for County Commissioner and what <br />they wanted to achieve. He cannot believe that the demise of the school district was one of the <br />goals. He said that the excellence of the school system is the result of decades of work by <br />students, teachers, parents, administrators, and County Commissioners. He said that this <br />community supports education and they are sensitive to the needs of the poor and low-income <br />families. He said that there should be enough creativity among the County Commissioners and <br />the citizens in the community to come up with a local funding mechanism that supports <br />education, but does not harm the citizens that cannot afford the higher taxes. <br />Mike Madden is a parent of a Special Olympics athlete and he spoke in support of <br />Special Olympics of Orange County coordinated funding sources. He made reference to his <br />PowerPoint handout. Special Olympics of North Carolina is a model program and is the fourth <br />largest program worldwide. The County program handles more than 240 athletes and mare <br />than 200 volunteers. The County program independently raises $15,000 and brings in <br />thousands of hours of volunteer time. It is run by one part-time coordinator. The Town of <br />Chapel Hill has put forth funding for this position, but the Mayor has asked Orange County to <br />contribute part or all of the extra $16,000 to make this afull-time position. He spoke about the <br />problems with three part-time coordinators. He said that it was financially fair for them to ask <br />Orange County for funding for the SOOC Coordinator position. <br />Kathy Bryan is Director of Orange Enterprises. She asked the County Commissioners to <br />support the Special Olympics program. She said that many times when they place someone <br />with disabilities into the workforce, the individuals miss the camaraderie of Orange Enterprises. <br />She said that one of the ways that they have bridged the social gap is through recreational <br />opportunities like Special Olympics. She supported Mike Madden's comments. <br />Hal McKeel also spoke in support of Special Olympics of Orange County. He has been <br />a coach for Special Olympics for 15 years. He asked that Orange County kick in $16,000 for <br />