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4 <br /> Todd LoFrese said additional equipment would need to be purchased if contractors <br /> were brought in house. He said the $1.6 million did not include this equipment, as it was just a <br /> wage analysis. <br /> Commissioner Price asked if the number of employees in the contracted services could <br /> be identified. <br /> Todd LoFrese said he does not know this number, but he said there are district <br /> custodial staff that are in the buildings during the day. He said each elementary school has a <br /> full time and a part-time employee; each middle and high school has three full-time employees. <br /> Commissioner Price asked if all these employees receive the living wage. <br /> Todd LoFrese said yes, and all full-time employees receive medical and retirement <br /> benefits. <br /> Commissioner Price asked if the difference between district and contracted custodial <br /> staff could be clarified. <br /> Todd LoFrese said there are custodians in the schools during the day, who are district <br /> employees. He said the contracted employees clean the schools in the evenings. <br /> James Barrett asked if OCS could explain how it handled school bus drivers in its <br /> budget this year. <br /> Pam Jones said the State's FY2018 budget included funding ear-marked for increasing <br /> bus driver pay statewide. She said OCS received approximately $112,862 for its drivers. On <br /> September 11, the Board of Education approved a salary schedule for bus drivers that <br /> increased driver pay by an average of surrounding districts. With this change, all drivers <br /> exceed the current living wage level and approximately 27% of drivers exceed $15 per hour. <br /> Todd LoFrese said CHCCS also received those funds, but in a much smaller amount, <br /> and CHCCS is in discussions with the State about this discrepancy. <br /> Commissioner Rich asked if bus drivers are full-time employees with benefits. <br /> Pam Jones said it depends on the number of hours, and some are eligible for benefits <br /> and some are not. <br /> CHCCS said this is the same in their district. <br /> 4. Status of School Bond Projects and Update on the Lincoln Center <br /> Groundbreaking <br /> Both School Systems have provided updates on the Bond Projects, approved as part of <br /> the successful November 2016 Bond Referendum in their agenda packets. <br /> CHCCS <br /> Todd LoFrese said projected schedules for the Lincoln Center and Chapel Hill High <br /> School projects are included in this evening's packet. He said bids opened today for the <br /> Lincoln Center, which came in significantly over budget. He said the CHCCS Board will <br /> discuss this in the coming weeks. He said the Chapel Hill High School project will go out to bid <br /> in late spring, and go to construction shortly thereafter. He said there have been some <br /> questions regarding a phasing plan for construction, given that students will still be at the <br /> school. He said the plan is multi-phased, and specific details are forthcoming. He said the <br /> new addition will be built first, and students will move into that addition so that the old building <br /> can be deconstructed. <br /> James Barrett said there had been some concerns from the teachers at Chapel Hill <br /> High School about how the traditional lay out of the building will meet the needs of modern <br /> education, and he said the School Board had a good discussion with these teachers. He said <br /> a public ground breaking ceremony will be scheduled once contracts and schedules are <br /> finalized. <br />