Agenda - 04-26-2005- - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioners as they prepare to make decisions about the 60-40 capital funding policy implementation at their regular meeting on May 3, 2005, Detailed tables and a question & answer sheet related to the various capital funding options are provided as background information, to be reviewed during the work session, b. School Funding Equity During Fall 2003, the Board of Commissioners conducted a number of meetings, including work sessions and public hearings, regarding school funding equity and the possible impacts of a potential merger between the Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. CHCCS receives approximately $13 million more per year in local funding than OCS due to proceeds that CHCCS receives from its special district tax of 20 cents per $100 valuation, The BOCC decided in early 2004 that it wanted to pursue several research initiatives before making specific financial decisions about how to address school funding equity, These included: 1) the Educational Excellence Work Group study, led by Dr. Madeleine Grumet and her team from the UNC School of Education; 2) the Collaboration Work Group, involving regular, facilitated meetings comprised of the governing board Chairs, Vice Chairs, County Manager, and Superintendents; and 3) an efficiency study of County and School operations, conducted by the firm of Robert Segal, CPA. As those studies are wrapping up, the Board will face decisions about what steps to take in light of the information gained as a result of the studies. For example, at the BOCC's April 14, 2005 work session, the Board discussed findings and recommendations from Dr. Grumet's team related to enhancements to OCS staffing that might lead to improvements in student support and overall performance, As the Board noted that evening, any efforts to narrow the gap in local per pupil funding available between the two school systems will mean a higher tax burden than at present for property owners in the OCS district. There will also need to be future discussions about the definition of "equity", which can be viewed in terms of per pupil funding equity, programmatic equity, some combination of both, and in other terms as well, The County Manager and staff will provide a brief presentation regarding mechanisms that could conceivably be pursued to begin to address the equity question, Fallowing that presentation, Commissioners may wish to discuss with school board members how the boards might go about making progress in 2005-06 towards funding equity between the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school systems in the context of a particularly challenging budgetary environment. c. Initial Reactions of School Boards to the Educational Excellence Report In February 2004, the Board of Commissioners endorsed the creation of an Educational Excellence Work Group to examine the resources made available to the Orange County Schools and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. As originally proposed, the Task Force's mission was to provide a review of both Orange County school systems, investigating the educational resources available in both school systems and making recommendations for improvement and how these resources could become equally accessible to all Orange County students, In June 2004, the Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with UNC incorporating the research proposal prepared by Dr, Madeline Grumet, Dean Emeritus of the School of Education,.