Minutes 04-25-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 BOCC and the CHCCS special district tax, both of which represent the majority of the districts' operational budget. Rani Dasi said the District continues to experience changes in student demographics, with an increase in the number of students with higher resource needs presenting significant challenges to an increasingly strained budget. She said that in 2008-09, the percentage of students in CHCCS facing economic insecurity was 23%; and in 2016-17 this percentage has increased to 29%. She said English as a second language (ESL) students have additional instructional and other support needs, and ESL students represent 11% of the student population. Rani Dasi said the Newcomers Program is a district level program, which supports students who have gaps in their formal education, and lack the most basic, fundamental English proficiency. She said 6% of the student population falls into this category. Rani Dasi said the District has the right administrative leadership, concerned and committed teachers, and the necessary community support and board commitment. She said the key goal of CHCCS is to reduce inequity, and this is a long-term goal that will require new ways of addressing many aspects of the District. She said this includes a longer-term view of how the District funds and manages. She said CHCCS is asking for a long-term partnership with the BOCC to achieve the goal of a profound reduction of inequity, and improved outcomes for all students. She said CHCCS commit to being honest partners, responsible managers of resources, and to collaboratively work with the stakeholders with transparent communication. Rani Dasi said CHCCS's budget submission includes additional information to inform the conversation, including detail on current spending, and primary funding sources for the District. She said the 2017-18 budget includes four key areas of requests, and nearly half of the budget request is driven by the local portion of state mandated increases; the second area is teacher and instructional support; the third area is living wage; and the fourth area is continuation requests. Rani Dasi said the CHCCS Board of Education (BOE) approved the District Equity Plan last week, which has been shared with the BOCC. She said this plan will support closing the opportunity gap. Rani Dasi said a significant number of CHCCS buildings are aging, and in disrepair. She said the asset base is $400 million, and industry standards put the annual investment into facility maintenance at 5-7% of the asset base. She said current annual appropriations do not provide this level of funding. She said CHCCS recognizes the funding challenges, and looks forward to creative partnerships to meet all education needs. Steve Halkiotis said there continues to be an unfolding destructive path affecting public schools from Washington, D.C. to Raleigh. He said this is a planned and deliberate attack on public schools, to bring them to their knees financially and ultimately cut off the knees. Steve Halkiotis said without the Board of County Commissioners, the Orange County Schools (OCS) would have folded a long time ago. He said all need to stand up and fight against this tide in Washington. He said the OCS Board of Education appreciates any and all help that the BOCC can offer to public schools. Chair Dorosin said reviewed the agenda for the evening. 1. Durham Technical Community College — Orange County Campus • FY 2017-18 Operating Budget Presentation and Discussion • Capital Investment Plan Discussion (New Health Technology Building)