Minutes 04-29-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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She expressed appreciation for the opportunity to come together. She said district serves a very diverse population, and tonight the Board will hear an outline of some of the initial steps the school board would like to take in addressing the district needs. Chair Jacobs said he is proud of the collaboration that occurs with the Board and the two districts. He said this was not always the case. He said the Board has appreciated the support from the school boards and the community during the past difficult budgetary years. Introductions were made. 1. Presentation of and Oranqe County Schools and Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Boards of Education Approved FY2014-15 Operatinq and Capital Budqets Tom Forcella said this is a joint effort within their system to present their budget. He said the schools are facing a fiscal cliff, and preparations on this budget began very early in anticipation of the difficulties that would be faced. He said the districts are in an environment where they are losing teachers due to reduced salaries. He said the schools put together an initiative called Focused Dialogue to gather input from schools, principals, and school improvement teams. He said this involved conversations about the current budget crisis and what they could do in reaction to this crisis. He said the school district tried to stay true to their vision in the midst of these difficulties. He said most of the problems fall back on what is happening to all schools in North Carolina as they try to balance state cuts with their fund balances. He said the board of education had been trying in past years to balance the state shortfall with fund balance, but that has come to an end. He said $1.5 million has been included in this year's budget due to the anticipated state salary increases for teachers. He said if that does not happen, the goal of the school board will be to keep that money in the budget to pay for local positions and supplements. He said it is important to do something to honor the salary increases that the teachers have not received in the past years. He said the absence of salary increases has hurt staffing and staff retention over the past year and into next year. Tom Forcella reviewed the following PowerPoint slides: CHCCS 2014-15 Board's Budget Request April 29, 2014 Agenda Share our Success Present Budget Priorities -Professional Development -Teacher Recruitment and Retention The Numbers Impact of Financial Support -Rich Curricular Offerings -A Variety of Programs -Strong EC Program -Supports for Fragile Students -Safety in our Schools Impact of Financial Support -Lowest dropout rate in NC