Agenda - 04-30-2007-e - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Facilitator's Notes - Fair Funding Work Group Tuesday, May 23, 2006 Orange County Schools Central Office, Hillsborough Work Group Members Present: Jamezetta Bedford, Randy Copeland, Valerie Foushee, Alice Gordon, Jean Hamilton, Libbie Hough, Michael Kelley, Dennis Whitling. StaffPresent: Shirley Carraway, John Link, Neil Pedersen, Andy Sachs (facilitator), Rod Visser Convening Randy Copeland, Chair of the Orange County Schools (OCS). Board of Education welcomed the group to the county district's central offices. He said that his Board has been looking forward to today's conversation; and that he was hoping to raise some' questions and clarify some issues that are of interest to his Board. He said that he was open to hearing the ideas of the members of the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Board of Education, and reiterated his welcome to all of the attendees. Jamezetta Bedford, Vice Chair of the CHCCS Board of Education, introduced herself and fellow CHCCS Board of Education members Jean Hamilton and Michael Kelley, and said that they were all glad to be present. Alice Gordon, Board of Orange County Commissioners (BOCC), said that she was looking forward to the meeting and hoping that the group would be able to develop a shazed vision, a shared data base, and address the three elected Boards' shared challenges together. Andy Sachs, who had been asked by BOCC to serve as facilitator for the group, presented the proposed meeting plan. Mr. Whitling asked how the meeting plan had been developed. Commissioner Gordon explained that she had reviewed, revised, and ultimately approved a draft that Mr: Sachs had developed based on a conference call with .Commissioner Gordon and Mr. Visser. Commissioner Gordon explained that BOCC wanted the group to have one or two meetings to see if the group could come up with solutions for the coming budget year. Since it is akeady budget season, BOCC is not interested in gathering a lot of new information. However, BOCC is going to have to fiend an operating budget and a capital budget. "We will have to do something." In the past, we've had meetings with the school boazds, but it's always been rushed and the opportunity for meaningful input from the school boards has been relatively limited. This is a particularly challenging budget yeaz, and we've been talking about fair funding for a long time. At the last joint session with the three Boards, Commissioner Gordon said, I raised the possibility that we should try to get this group together to try to develop some short-term solutions.