Minutes 06-04-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Jacobs thanked Dr. Halkiotis for acknowledging the support of the Board of County Commissioners. He asked if the Manager would look at the salaries of the OCS Board of Education. Commissioner Jacobs said the BOCC continues to fully fund a portion of Communities in Schools (CIS) for CHCCS. He said OCS took the services provided by Communities in Schools in house, and wonders why OCS did not ask for the same continued funding from the BOCC. Pam Jones said the programs were reviewed and OCS found it was doing much of the programming already. She said the services were taken in house in order to maintain the integrity of the programming and to move the programs in a different direction. Chair Halkiotis said it was a recommendation brought to the OCS Board by Del Burns. He said an audit of CIS was conducted, at the expense of OCS, and the results were found be unacceptable. He said it was concluded that CIS was not in the best interest of the students. He said OCS will be providing the program and will probably provide it better. Commissioner Jacobs asked if OCS had remained with CIS how much funding would have been received. Chair Halkiotis said he did not know but the Board concluded this was the best decision in the interest of the OCS students. Pam Jones said it was around $125,000 from the County and now OCS is putting in that $125,000. Commissioner Jacobs asked if both school systems had been funded equally for CIS. Bonnie Hammersley said the request from CIS for the 2015-16 budget was $102,000, and the County reduced it per ADM (Average Daily Membership) due to OCS no longer participating, by $35,200. Commissioner Price said she understood that when CIS received their funding last year, that $20,000 went to OCS. She said she received this information from CIS board members. Commissioner Burroughs said she is the liaison to CIS. She said in the CIS budget $22,000 went straight to OCS. She said the remaining amount of funding from the BOCC was for running the program in both districts. She said there was never a definitive split between the OCS and CHCCS. Commissioner Jacobs asked if$35,000 goes to the Executive Director's position. Paul Laughton said yes. He said part of the $102,000 given this year went towards the Executive Director's salary. He said this year the total funding is reduced by $35,200. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the number of actual students last year was lower than the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) projections. Pam Jones said yes. There were 176 fewer students than projected. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the reduced number of students affects the OCS budget. He asked if OCS still receives funding for the 176 students that did not enroll. Pam Jones said no, the funding is not received if the students do not enroll. Commissioner Jacobs asked if funding was still received from the BOCC. Pam Jones said yes, funding is still received from the County. Chair Halkiotis said it is reflected in the loss of 7 teaching positions. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the County had not given funding for the 176 students that never enrolled would the cuts have been greater, and if there is a way to budget for this. Pam Jones said it affects the allocation of teaching staff, but does not reduce the fixed costs. She said the loss of students is not from one school but rather spread across the District. Chair Halkiotis said this can ultimately lead to the increase in class size.