Agenda 04-05-22; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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14 1 are not in the classroom. She said increases for those positions should come through the 2 budget process. 3 Dr. Felder said it takes all staff to support student achievement. She said they cannot 4 have student achievement without classified staff. She said since these are recurring funds, by 5 addressing the salary needs they are shoring up their staff since they have a high number of 6 vacancies. 7 Vice Chair Bedford asked if there are steps in increases for Orange County classified 8 staff in the supplement. 9 Rhonda Rath said they do not have steps for classified staff, and it is a flat percentage. 10 Vice Chair Bedford asked about certified staff. 11 Rhonda Rath said that certified staff is based on years of service in Orange County 12 Schools and goes from 12% to 18%. 13 14 Chair Price arrived at the meeting at 8:05 p.m. 15 16 Vice Chair Bedford said she was surprised by Orange County Schools' proposal being 17 about salaries and compensation. She asked about the vacancies in Chapel Hill Carrboro City 18 Schools. She said she is worried about setting up differences for students between the school 19 systems. 20 Dr. Hamlett said they have 205 vacancies. She said they also just finished a classified 21 compensation study and that was shared with their board last week. She said that next steps 22 will be embedded in the budget process and the commissioners will be seeing those then. 23 Vice Chair Bedford asked if Dr. Hamlett would have changed the proposal if she knew 24 there were no limits on the money. 25 26 Dr. Hamlett said they wanted to focus on what they knew would have a direct impact on 27 their students. She said there are vacancies and shortages in critical areas but that she wanted 28 to address the need for the achievement gap and the mental health needs. She said that is why 29 they included issues that were lifted up during the last budget cycle. She said that mental 30 distress in children is linked to lower academic achievement and poor study progress. She said 31 mental health impacts students' ability to graduate on-time. She said it impacts their physical 32 health and everything about their progress. She said her district chose to focus on mental health 33 and wellness first using the grant funds from Orange County. She listed several ways that 34 Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools are focusing on academic achievement. She said they are 35 doing an equity audit and an equity framework across the district. She said they are also 36 addressing learning loss in the achievement gap. She said they are also working on a 37 curriculum and instruction audit to address the achievement gap, as well. 38 Chair Deon Temne said there are other issues that affect the achievement gap such as 39 housing and it is a large complex problem. He said that it includes affordable housing, access to 40 broadband, and many other functions. 41 Commissioner McKee said he understands that mental health is a critical part of 42 education. He said that he does not understand how creating a new department in Chapel Hill 43 Carrboro City Schools improves educational outcomes. He said he is open to an explanation 44 because he is having a very hard time understanding it. 45 Board Member Dasi said her son is in the fifth grade and needs the social and emotional 46 supports to succeed in school. She said kids are coming to school underprepared to learn. She 47 said that the pandemic has had impacts on children that need to be addressed. She said that it 48 is important to create an environment where children can access information before academics 49 are stressed. She said that having more conversations with students and teachers might bring 50 awareness of how important this need is. She said teachers are quitting in the middle of the 51 year and kids do not know how to deal with that on top of all other stresses.