Agenda - 09-17-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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8 1 Gary Wallach has a child in the CHCCS. He asked the Board to fully fund the CHCCS 2 by increasing the special district tax by 2 cents this year. He said this request is due to deep 3 cuts by the state. He said the district is moving forward by supporting professional development 4 in their teachers, and the learning trajectory for students is upward. He noted a request for 5 increases in financing for professional development and said this is partially a result of the of the 6 new common core requirements. He said that the manager's report does not note that there will 7 be an increase in revenue and continued cuts to public education. He urged the Board to allow 8 citizens to help the County move forward by increasing the district tax to fund the schools. 9 10 Nick Parker is a 6th grader at Smith Middle School. He said the school had a great 11 teacher; but, due to standardized testing, he was laid off. He said many classes have been cut, 12 and opportunities for learning are less. He feels this is because of the increase in testing. He 13 asked the Board to fully fund the schools. 14 15 Hunter Pendleton is a tech specialist at a local school and an Orange County tax payer. 16 He said he is anxious to pay more taxes for their schools. He urged business leaders to be 17 leaders in supporting public education. 18 19 Beven Ramsey serves on the Board of Directors of the Arts Center. He said there are 20 plans to bring about some important changes to the art programs for underprivileged children. 21 He said the Arts Center has an annual budget of$1.5 million, of which $89,000 comes from the 22 state and local government. He said that the center accounts for $3 million in economic impact 23 in Orange County, which is more than 3%. He said this investment is consistent with the 24 County's commitment to tourism, and he asked the Board to approve their outside agency 25 funding request. 26 27 Sue Keith said education is a priority for her family, which includes seven children. She 28 and her husband serve and give back to the community because they have received so much. 29 She is alarmed by what the legislature is doing to education. She feels that the entire county is 30 at risk of losing quality teachers, education programs, and art programs. Though not high 31 income earners, her family supports higher taxes to support education and to fully fund the 32 schools. 33 34 Mary Faith Mount-Cors is a member of the Carrboro Elementary School Improvement 35 Team. She said her family moved here 9 years ago, and one attraction was the schools. The 36 team represents 630 students and their families, as well as 85 staff members and has 37 requested full funding for both school districts' budgets. She noted that this school is over 50 38 years old. Recently the school asked Commissioner Dorosin to speak to them in order to learn 39 more about the budget process. She asked the Board to step up and honor the community 40 commitment to quality education. She said that the manager's recommended budget is too 41 little and will not maintain existing programs and teachers. She said it does not cover the cost 42 to open Northside Elementary, despite larger class sizes and cuts to teachers and programs. 43 She said that the requested budget strives to simply maintain the status quo. She is in favor of 44 a tax increase and said this has historically happened every time a new school opens. 45 46 Jill Simon is a parent of a child in the CHCCS, a former teacher and is involved in the 47 PTA. She asked the Board to fully fund their schools' budget request and she urged the 48 consideration of any tax increases necessary to do this. 49 50 Calvin Hinkle is a 3rd grade student at Morris Grove Elementary. He said that if the 51 Board doesn't give the schools money, Spanish classes, computers and teacher assistants will