Minutes 04-28-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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turnover being due to retirements at the top of the scale. He said that teachers with 25 to 30 years experience have no financial motivation to continue teaching. Todd LoFrese said CHCCS had turnover that was a combination of teachers at the earlier end of their career, along with those retiring at the top of the scale. He agreed with Del Burns regarding teachers hitting a wall in financial compensation after 25 to 30 years. He said the turnover rate in CHCCS was at about 14 percent, which is a 10-year high. James Barrett said the numbers circulated by DPI are done on a March to March comparison; therefore, it takes a full year to reflect the turnover that happens at the end of the school year. Commissioner Pelissier requested, in the future, that both of the School Districts provide the BOCC with quick reference figures regarding any progress made in achievement gaps and graduation rates. Chair McKee said, should the BOCC allocate the $302 request from CHCCS, that amount would have to go to both systems, which would drive the tax rate to about .03, assuming that everything else within the County stayed the same. He said the .03 increase would be on top of the .02 increase from last year, which is significant for those on fixed incomes. Chair McKee said the upcoming bond would also add to the tax rate going forward. He said that Paul Laughton mentioned that the increase given last year was also $302. Commissioner Jacobs asked if staff would take the last 10 years of school requests and calculate what the tax rate would be had all requests been fully funded. Commissioner Price said asked if CHCCS could get back to the BOCC regarding their priorities if the per pupil increase were to be only $81, or even an average between the $302 and the $81. Todd LoFrese said the big question is what is going to happen at the State level. He said salaries traditionally make up the biggest component of CHCCS requested increases over the years. He said what happens at the State level affects what CHCCS does at the local level. Tom Forcella said the salary increases are such a big piece of the CHCCS request but are not a part of the OCS request. Chair McKee said the budget cuts by the State are not exclusive to the Schools, and that the County too is facing these same challenges. Chair Kelly said if the tax rate increase being requested this year had been made 10 years ago, then a tax increase would not be needed this year. He said the requests are not really cumulative over time. Chair Kelly said CHCCS have approached their budget in a similar fashion for years. He said when items are prioritized ahead of time, it adds a great deal of stress to their staff and teachers. He said the monies that are ultimately received typically warrant a new discussion anyway. Chair Kelly said good things would happen in OCS if they too had the $302 increase in per pupil funding. Jamezetta Bedford said this year and last year's efforts have been made to tie the budget to the long range plans, and she said she is adamantly opposed charging anything for Driver's Education. She said looking forward, if nothing changes, then the achievement gap is not going to improve. She said it will be necessary to think outside the box, repurposing the dollars to help achievement gaps and improve instructional excellence in the classroom. Commissioner Price said the reasoning for her question is to look at the worse-case scenario, and what it would look like to CHCCS if they did not get their full funding request. She said both school systems are doing great things and all should be proud. Chair Halkiotis said OCS has two retired Highway Patrolmen that teach their Driver's Education courses. He said the State has been considering letting private driving schools take