Agenda - 09-27-2004-1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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t Orange countp 6cbootz r 200 Ca5t Ring btreet �)iltgborougb,_RC 27278 Dr. Shirley Carraway (919) 732 -8126 Telephone Superintendent (919) 732 -8120 Fax www.orange.kl2.nc.us TO: John Link, Orange County Manager Orange County Board of County Commissioners FROM: Shirley Carraway, Superintendent Orange County Board of Education DATE: September 22, 2004 RE: Fund Balance At the August 16, 2004 meeting of the Orange County Board of Education, the 2004 -2005 local current expense budget was approved. As a result, for the first time in a number of years, the students and staff in our school district will have the advantage of new programs and additional benefits. We have added Spanish teachers to six of our elementary schools, increased the number of school social workers, provided much needed print materials for our school media centers, and enabled our schools to replace furniture that no longer supports a conducive learning environment. The district provided a half -time coordinator to support the newly approved International Baccalaureate Program along with IB instructional materials and required training. In addition, we have been able to increase non - tenured teacher supplements to better match the supplements in the surrounding districts and implemented salary schedules for both our classified employees and central office employees that recognize and reward their commitment to the district. These things were made possible when the Board of Education approved the allocation of $1.2 million from the district's fund balance and supplemented that amount with $400,000 from its Child Care reserves. I am sure you would agree that this was a bold step for the Board of Education realizing that it has no way to replace the funds expended. It must however, continue the initiatives that it has new begun. In addition, the Board also has the responsibility to fund the one time costs of opening middle school #3 in the fall of 2006 and a commitment to upgrade the two existing middle school programs. As you know, Orange County Schools does not have a special district tax or any other mechanism at its disposal that would allow the system to increase its revenue in a year of major expansion. Therefore, the district purposefully sought to increase the fund balance to cover the anticipated upcoming costs of school growth. This spring, the Board of County Commissioners instructed the Orange County Board of Education to spend down some of its fund balance. The rationale was straightforward and reasonable; the Board of County Commissioners could not