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needs, including health and safety needs, of the older schools in both districts. Therefore we should have a program to upgrade the older schools until they are substantially equivalent to the newer ones, to the extent that is possible. As a practical matter, it will not be possible to make all schools the same. But if new schools have facilities that exceed that which is available at other schools, some compensating facilities that are similar or equivalent should be built at the other schools. At the very least, each school community should identify the facility that they can demonstrate is most needed at their school, and then every effort should be made to provide that facility. Cammissianer Foushee said that, coming from serving in a schoal district, she was keenly aware of the inequitable situations that exist within a particular school district. She thinks that equity should include: • equal access to opportunities or choices • equal access to comparable courses • equal process (everyone is included in or allowed to contribute to the decision- making). She said that some families do not have access to the process. Chair Jacobs read from his handout for the first question as stated below. WHAT IS SCHOOL EQUITY? Equity in this context is an equal opportunity to receive a quality public education. While that may not necessarily equate to identical funding, it does equate to identical treatment on the part of county government, to equal access to the decision-making process, and to comparable access to services, programs, and facilities. This is the spirit in which school collaboration was undertaken and continues, in which the middle college was established, in which a middle school league was fashioned, in which a joint college fair was held by the two school districts, and in which some school staff development has been shared. This is the spirit in which Orange County provides a strong basic framework for all students, with the top per-pupil and capital funding mix in North Carolina. Chair Jacobs said that he thinks that if they get past focusing an equal funding, then they can make a lot of progress. Commissioner Carey said that he has been consistent about his perception of equity. He thinks that his concerns about equity are similar to his responsibility as a County Commissioner, that every child in the County, regardless of where they live, should have the same opportunity to reach their full educational potential. He thinks that an element of this is access to options that are available to everyone. When you talk about fairness and access, you are really talking about money. He thinks that access does not necessarily mean equal since each school board will have to make decisions about priorities. Commissioner Carey said that, in answer to the second question, he has consistently had reservations and real concerns about funding anything outside the per- pupil allocation because it gives the public a false sense that the County Commissioners have more line item control than they really do over school budgets. He does not want to mislead the public. He thinks that this is a slippery slope.