Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
<br />Dr. Todd Wirt said that all OCS employees make a living wage, with the exception of <br />contracted custodians. <br />Jennifer Bennett said CHCCS is paying all a living wage. She said contracted positions <br />were required to provide a living wage through their benefit package. <br />Dr. Todd Wirt said OCS is going to re-bid its custodial contracts, and will be asking for a <br />living wage. <br />Commissioner Dorosin asked if cost comparisons will be done for bringing these <br />services in house. <br /> Dr. Todd Wirt said OCS has done these calculations several times, and the costs to <br />bring these services in house around an additional $500,000 to $600,000. <br />Commissioner Dorosin asked if the living wage is covered by the contractor increases its <br />cost for services. <br />Dr. Todd Wirt said yes. <br />Commissioner Bedford clarified that teacher assistants (TAs) are not getting paid for <br />workdays. <br />Dr. Pam Baldwin said TAs were brought back for a few days this year, for professional <br />development, which will continue. <br />Commissioner Bedford said she remembered making cuts to summer programming in <br />CHCS, and now it is down to 15 days. She said she is not sure what OCS has for summer <br />programs, but she is glad that CHCCS is restoring these programs and she is glad that OCS is <br />restoring class sizes in middle school <br />Commissioner Bedford said the State have made serious cuts, and the districts are <br />doing less with less, and there is not enough staff to do the quality work that is needed. She <br />said if $175 does not allow for a continuation budget, she is fearful what will have to be cut next. <br />She said the question of restoring positions has not even been discussed. <br />Dr. Pam Baldwin said CHCCS would have 40 positions that would need to be absorbed <br />through attrition or cut. <br />Dr. Pam Baldwin said CHCCS is looking to write some grants in order to avoid cutting <br />summer programming. She said this programming is so important. <br />Dr. Todd Wirt said this year the budget does meet OCS’ continuation request, and it is <br />seeking to restore some summer programs, etc. this year, but there have been many reductions <br />over the past three or four years in order to meet state mandates and cuts. He said these cuts <br />have been made at the central office whenever possible. <br />Commissioner Bedford referred to capital, and said Mebane is growing. She asked if it <br />is time to look at landbanking in Mebane, especially in consideration of the Economic <br />Development District (EDD) zones. <br />Will Atherton, OCS Board Chair, said absolutely, and OCS is bringing this up now <br />because the problem is inevitable. He said all OCS schools are centralized, and redistricting <br />will not allow for much scale value. He said looking at some of these growth areas will help <br />significantly. <br />Dr. Todd Wirt said the Operations Research and Education Laboratory (OREd) out of <br />NC State, assists schools districts in addressing politically sensitive school planning issues, <br />such as district membership projections, determining the location of new school sites, creating <br />new attendance boundaries, and examining demographic balance in redistricting processes. <br />He said OREd will help OCS in this process. <br />Dr. Todd Wirt said OCS has one site that is greatly aged, but the moment OCS takes an <br />aging school offline, a new elementary school would be needed immediately. He said as part of <br />the reassignment process, OREd will help determine the best location for a new school. He said <br />there is growth in Hillsborough, but Mebane has no foreseeable slowing down of its growth. <br />Commissioner Bedford asked if there is also the potential to hook into water and sewer <br />in Mebane.