Minutes 05-23-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elvira Mebane is from the Efland Cheeks area and has a child in OCS. She said she is here to ask the County Commissioners to fully fund the OCS Budget requests. She would like for them to consider the expansion of the Efland Cheeks Community Center because the community is expanding. She thanked them for their continued support around transportation issues in northern and rural Orange County. She spoke about having a bus system through Mebane, Efland, and Hillsborough for the citizens there. Martha Williams has a daughter at Grady Brown and said the State expects more from their children and teachers, yet it wants to take the TAs. This year she has seen that the children in her daughter's class are not financially stable and do not have snacks, glue sticks, etc. She asked that the teacher assistants please not be taken from these children that do not get support at home. Michelle Siegling is a parent from CHCCS and the PTA president at Estes Hills Elementary School. She is a licensed teacher but this year is serving as a Teacher Assistant. She asked the County Commissioners to look at the big picture and they appreciate all of the support they can get. She looks to the Board of County Commissioners to mitigate some of these circumstances. Brian Oswald asked the County Commissioners to support the capital plan for OCS and specifically the proposed gym/extra classrooms at Cedar Ridge. He said the TAs are a benefit for the school systems. Jeff Danner said he has been here thirteen years and his observation is that this story is always the same; both school systems' proposed adequate budgets maintain what they already have. He said the County Commissioners are not bound by the County Manager's budget and some years you just have to fund the budget as requested. He said hopefully this will be one of those years. Lee Anne Swanekamp recently moved to Chapel Hill, and the reason they picked Chapel Hill and Orange County is because of the school systems. She asked the County Commissioners to fully fund the schools. Mike Kelley, CHCCS Board member, said he is speaking as an individual tonight and not on behalf of the school board. He addressed the use of fund balance by the CHCCS. He said the two school boards and Board of County Commissioners came to agreement about fund balances and established a goal of 5.5% of the budget in the fund balance. The fund balance last year was over 10% because of the federal funds. The district chose to use those funds immediately and was able to save the local funds. They decided to spend these funds down over three years. The three years are over and the fund balance will be at 5.6%. He said the Manager's recommendation for the schools to use their fund balance is just not practical. Michael Kaunlayk has three children in the CHCCs and he asked the County Commissioners to fully fund the CHCCS proposed budget. He said his family chose to move here because of the school system. Desaray Rockett is a student at Cedar Ridge High School. She asked the County Commissioners to fully fund the OCS budget request including, the capital request for a new gym and classrooms. Jennifer Erneste has three children in OCS. She said she grew up in large school classes without teacher assistants and she saw teachers burn out. She asked the County Commissioners to fully fund the schools. 4. Adjournment of Public Hearing Capital Investment Plan Budget Work Session — No Public Comment