Minutes 04-23-2020 Virtual Work Session

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26 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is any way to compel school districts to consolidate some of the things that they both do, such as transportation, to ameliorate disparities. He said it is good to hear what people think, but right is right. Commissioner Marcoplos said, over the years, rural Orange County has felt that the schools were one thing over which they had control. He said if a poll were conducted, the residents could be asked about collaborative efforts. Commissioner Dorosin said if they are going toward universal pre-K, and building new facilities, there should be more effective collaboration. Chair Rich asked if the Board is interested in polling about a district tax, and if a referendum is desired, which would provide some supporting data. Commissioner Marcoplos said polling residents would provide information and seed conversations around the County. Chair Rich said if the public is involved from the beginning it backs up what Commissioner Dorosin is trying to do. She said the public has misunderstood Commissioner Dorosin’s intent in the past. Commissioner Dorosin said if it is the will to have two school districts, then the question remains as to whether the current funding model is equitable. Commissioner Dorosin said the sheet that was attached, with district tax data, has some missing information. Commissioner McKee said his position has not changed. He said there is no way to get around the fact that the residents in CHCCS will come up neutral on taxes paid, but the OCS residents will get a tax increase. He said there are 20,408 students in Orange County, and if you get rid of the district tax then both districts are equal at $4352 per pupil. He said to bring the districts back to the current CHCCS allocation, the County would have to generate $1977 per pupil for the OCS students, which is a $40 million increase in tax revenue, and translates to 20.8 cent tax increase district wide. Commissioner McKee said a poll would be useless because both sides of the conversation would mobilize residents to come out in opposition. He said to put a referendum on the November ballot for an OCS district tax, and that would serve as the poll. Chair Rich said is it that the County needs to bring all up to 1977, or bring it down to a more reasonable amount to allow for equity. Commissioner McKee said the numbers he is using is bringing every student up to what CHCCS currently spends per pupil. Chair Rich said the question remains of does it cost $2000 more per student to educate students in CHCCS, as opposed to OCS. Commissioner McKee said that is the true question: what does it cost to educate a student in Orange County. He said it will be as hard to sell a reduction in the special district tax to CHCCS parents, as it would to sell an increase in taxes to the OCS parents. He said there is no doubt that inequity exists, but there is also the perception of it. He said the bottom line is that the people in Chapel Hill implemented a tax for themselves, and OCS did not. He said there would be a huge tax increase if the Board tries to balance this by going to the CHCCS funding level. Commissioner Bedford said there should be federal funding for all children to receive an education. She said in 2006 both school districts agreed on issues about taxes not forcing people to move, and serving children fairly. She said in 2005 Davenport did a study on ways to share costs between the school districts, and some changes were made to the tune of significant savings. She said some recommendations were not implemented such as teacher training being done collaboratively with teachers from both districts, as well as allowing high school students to go between the two districts. She said there was a recommendation to raise taxes to go exclusively to schools, but the 2007-2008 recession occurred. She said the