Minutes 06-05-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Michelle Brownstein said the schools try to give the Board of County Commissioners what they need as far as requests and then work things out once the Board has made a decision. Commissioner porosin said it would be easier for the Board if there was some designation of the level of urgency and priority assigned to the requests. Michelle Brownstein said CHCCS has submitted a list regarding potential cuts. Mike Kelly said he can communicate what the board has discussed, but there has been no prioritization of needs, because these discussions can be demoralizing to their teachers. He said CHCCS does not have the fine detailed information that Commissioner porosin is requesting. Michelle Brownstein said she wants to make sure the Board understands that the schools were not asking for an expansion budget, and there were already significant staffing cuts. Mike Kelly said these cuts will mean an expansion in class sizes, and cuts to athletic programs. Commissioner porosin said he finds it unacceptable that neither school system joined the lawsuits against the state. He said the only way this legislature has been beaten back is in the courts. He is not going to support an increase in the district tax; however, he will support a property tax increase. Michael Talbert said the CHCCS superintendent recommended a budget that was $900,000 less than what the school board requested, but the board did not go along with this. He said this can be provided to the Commissioners. Michelle Brownstein said the prioritization is also reflected in the school board documents from the meeting that was held a week later. Mike Kelly said the school board did not agree with the cuts recommended by the superintendent. Commissioner McKee asked if this information is related to the memo that was sent out on May 2gtn Michelle Brownstein said yes. Commissioner McKee asked if the full time employee (FTE) reductions in that memo factored in the legislation. Michelle Brownstein said that was before the senate's budget was announced. Commissioner McKee said he had asked for this information a couple of ineetings ago from CHCCS. He said this information was not that helpful. He said he needs to know the prioritizations, and he would like to know why the school board did not follow the superintendent's budget but asked for more. He said the County is not flush with money, and the request seemed overaggressive. He said the reductions from the state are serious. He asked what accommodations would be made due to teacher reductions. Michelle Brownstein said teacher reductions mean more children will be in the classrooms and teacher/student ratio would increase. Mike Kelly said there is an acceptable threshold in order to teach a class. He said there has been some flexibility in some courses that are taught in a series. He said this is being enforced more now, where 20 students are being required for first courses, rather than 15 students. Michelle Brownstein said the administrative estimate for that ratio was that it would result in a loss of three full time employees. Commissioner McKee said he is still not sure how this relates to a reduction in full time employees if this was already a policy, and there was just an increase in the beginning size of the beginning class.