Agenda - 11-06-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Commissioner Price asked if people are losing jobs. Todd Lofrese said the district originally anticipated 15 layoffs, but this was reduced to 9. He said these were part time employees, and this was not their primary source of income. He said staff has run out of places to cut, and the other options were no better. He said this was the least bad decision that could be made. Commissioner Price asked if these employees had been advised to go to the County office. Todd Lofrese said arrangements were made with the contracted evening cleaning companies for these day employees to interview for jobs. He said the employee information was also kept on file for possible future openings. Commissioner Price asked about the reductions to the teachers for the gifted children. Todd Lofrese said the district has a new gifted coordinator, and one of her priorities is to work on strategies to make sure these children are getting what they need. He said all of the district schools still have a full time gifted specialist. Commissioner Pelissier said given the focus on closing the achievement gap, she would like to understand more about the funding for at risk students. Todd Lofrese said the state level cuts were not a huge dollar amount, so this has been absorbed locally, and the same services and programs are being provided. 2. Orange County Schools (OCS) — Overview of FY 2014 -15 Budget Interim Superintendent Del Burns said this is an update rather than an overview, since the budget has not been adopted yet, and the impact of the state changes is still being analyzed. He said OCS has not had to reduce personnel, services or programs, and he does not anticipate that this will be needed. He said this is due in large to the Board of County Commissioners and the hard work of the Board of Education. He said there have been slight reductions to central office administration, transportation, teacher assistants, and at -risk funds. He said these have been very nominal and have been absorbed. He said due to the manner in which the teachers were allotted this year and the projected growth, the district was able to preserve teacher assistants. Interim Superintendent Del Burns said the at -risk funding saw a minimal cut, and there was a substantial amount of carry forward for this fund in the district. He said this has been used, and there was no reduction. He said their concern is how much investment can be made in programs, services and personnel. He said different scenarios are being considered. He said one area of focus is student growth, and the projected growth for this year was 197 students. He said the opening of the new charter school has impacted this growth, and there will be a financial impact. Interim Superintendent Del Burns said the OCS budget will be presented at their next board meeting. Commissioner Dorosin asked for more information about the charter school. Interim Superintendent Del Burns said the projected number to attend the charter school was 135, and this was at the elementary level. He said this is the level where the OCS numbers did not meet the state projection. Chair Jacobs asked for an explanation of the way in which the legislature changed the enrollment projection for next year and how this affects the budget process. Interim Superintendent Del Burns said there may be a planning allotment for the next fiscal year; however, the ADM growth funding has now been moved from continuation budget to expansion budget, and it will have to fight among all of the other budget items. He said this does not mean that it will not be funded, but it is not a continuation. He said his understanding is that the Department of Public Instruction is trying to determine how they might provide a projection. He said absent this it will be a challenge to