Agenda - 11-19-2013 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 1 Bob Jessup said the law says the voters approve whatever the question is, such as 2 "bonds for schools". He said voters are told where the dollar figure comes from, but the control 3 of how the money is borrowed comes back to the Commissioners. 4 Commissioner Gordon said it should not be easy to deviate from proposed purposes that 5 the voters approved. She said there would need to be a compelling reason to do this. 6 Steve Halkiotis said he is puzzled. He said the packet tonight references past bonds 7 with specific designations for the use of the money. He agreed with Commissioner Gordon. 8 Bob Jessup said he is just informing them of their legal authority. He said the decision is 9 still up to the Board. 10 Chair Jacobs noted that there are 8 school board members and 5 Commissioners who 11 have not gone through a bond, and he said this is a helpful discussion. He said what the voters 12 vote on based on educational efforts is what the elected officials feel committed to doing. He 13 said this is only deviated from for extenuating circumstances and changes should be well 14 explained. 15 Chair Brownstein said what the boards are working toward is unprecedented in terms of 16 the level of detail and the campaign to educate the public. She said the focus is on the older 17 schools now, versus building new buildings. 18 Chair Jacobs said he does not feel that impact of Newtown can be underestimated in 19 terms of looking at the older schools. He said that safety issues have forced school systems to 20 look comprehensively at all of their facilities. 21 Chair Jacobs noted that the Board of County Commissioners discussion on bonds will 22 continue at a work session on October 8th 23 24 6. Update on Legislative Actions Affecting Funding for Public Education (NC 25 Schools Boards Association and Others) 26 Chair Jacobs said there is no presentation in their packets. He asked for an update on 27 the effects of the legislature's actions. 28 Chair Coffey said Superintendent Burns could share some preliminary information. 29 OCS Interim Superintendent Burns said the final presentation of the adopted budget will 30 occur at the October 14th Board of Education Meeting. He said the analysis at this point shows 31 a positive impact on revenue due to the growth of Orange County Schools. He noted the 32 projected change of 81 students, which allowed for an additional $400,000 in state revenue. He 33 said this was a good thing, though there was still a reduction in state revenue. He said the net 34 is over $100,000 less, even with the growth. 35 He said there has been a net reduction in the federal allotment. He said the generosity 36 of the Board made a big difference in mitigating the impact of the stimulus money that was lost. 37 He said the Board has made hard decisions to reduce recurring funding, and this has made an 38 impact. 39 He said there will be a fund balance appropriation of$900,000 to balance the budget 40 and there will be adjustments made in the state budget. 41 He said there will not be a reduction in force for teachers, teacher's assistants (TA's), or 42 programs. 43 Chair Brownstein said the schools are very lucky to have such a supportive Board of 44 County Commissioners. 45 Superintendent Tom Forcella said CHCCS is in a position where things are still moving 46 to the bottom of the barrel. He said the schools have been able to maintain the TA positions, 47 but there are some difficult times ahead. 48 Todd LoFrese said the discretionary reduction in the General Assembly (GA) was 49 thought to be temporary; but this June the GA eliminated discretionary reduction and then 50 reduced funding for teachers and TAs. He said CHCCS got less money from the state this year 51 than last year. He said this is the last year that CHCCS has a fund balance left.