Agenda - 12-11-1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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JOYCE TENNISON, Frank Porter Graham PTA representative, stated her strong support for a 66 million dollar bond. LEON FINK, President of the Culbreth PTA, stated that the cost of school failure is more than the pain of a tax increase. Chapel Hill schools are very good because of the widespread support for them. With all this support, they have no luxurious schools. Culbreth is already 65 students over capacity. They can hardly meet the basic needs of their schools. The PTA has provided $60,000 in funds to help the school. Parents put in hundreds of hours to accumulate these funds because they are proud of their school. They see their school as something that works. They believe their school is their most important possession. He asked that the message be spread and asked that the Board of County Commissioner do the right thing. MAGGIE SLOAN of Chapel Hill stated she hates paying taxes but supports a 66 million dollar package to be put before the voters in May. CINDY CHEEK feels the increased tax is an investment in the future and a small price to pay to be sure the children get a good education. KATIE MCLAURIN, Chapel Hill School District, stated that the redis- tricting done last year can only juggle the number of students for a limited time. Sufficient infrastructure is needed. Also, the students need an education that will prepare them for the 21st century. She asked the Board to approve a bond referendum to allow the school system to move forward with their educational plans. DR. JOHN GRAHAM, representing TaxWatch, read a prepared statement which is in the Permanent Agenda File in the Clerk's office. In summary, he expressed reservations about the size of the proposed bond, the lack of evidence of hard planning, vagueness concerning the amount of money needed and lack of evidence that the proposed construction is linked to the curricular needs of the next decade. He mentioned several innovations that could be considered instead of spending money on bricks and mortar. WILLIAM OPPOLD, member of TaxWatch, offered to help the schools with their problems of overcrowding conditions. He stated that there are other retired individuals who would be willing to help as volunteers. (His entire letter is in the Permanent Agenda File) GRAINGER BARRETT, spoke in support of a 66 million dollar bond issue. He has three children in the school system. He stated that all children in the County are equal and need this bond package. He will pay those property taxes for children before he would get a new car. The need is there. Doors cannot be closed to the children. Maybe year round schools will come in the future but not now. This bond issue should not be delayed. He challenged the Board of County Commissioners to be active and vigorous leaders and be advocates of this bond referendum. He asked that his friends in Orange County not fight through the newspaper but meet each other and talk in a retreat and hash it out and go forward. The main danger is that of delay. In the end the product is what is important, not the bricks and mortar.