Minutes 02-22-2022 Virtual Joint Meeting with the Schools

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16 districts at the beginning of the fiscal year. She said educating students is complex and multi- faceted. She said she wanted to encourage school districts to use the funds as they see fit. Commissioner Fowler agreed with Commissioner Hamilton. She said she supported both plans and she wanted to trust the districts to know what was best for students. She said her only concern was finding the mental health professionals to fill the spots in Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools' proposal. Bonnie Hauser said Dr. Felder is implementing multitiered system of supports (MTSS) in Orange County. She said that all students in tier 2 or 3 intervention got a plan. She said it is SEL and academics put together. She said the plan brings all the resources of Orange County Schools to that child. She said the classified compression study is $3 million and about half will go to teaching assistants. She said that teacher salary supplements will cost $650,000. She said the salary issues are contributing to instability in the schools, because Orange County Schools is not competitive. She said bringing this proposal to the BOCC has been a difficult conversation. Commissioner Greene expressed appreciation to Orange County Schools for their explanation. Vice Chair Bedford said that identification of children with autism has increased in the last few decades, and children with autism have long lasting social and emotional learning needs. 2. District Updates a. OCS — Superintendent, Dr. Monique Felder, CHCCS — Superintendent, Dr. Nyah Hamlett i. Masking Sylvia Compton, lead nurse at Orange County Schools, explained the masking updates that were approved the previous evening at the Orange County Schools Board of Education meeting. She said the district approved optional masking indoors for students within 72 hours of Orange County ending the county-wide indoor mask mandate. She said they would be watching the metrics and to see if the community was in high to substantial transmission rates, and if there are secondary cases of transmission in the schools that exceed 2% of the school population. She said masking would resume at that point. She said that currently, students are masking indoors, with optional masking outdoors. She said that on March 1, students will be able to have lunches indoors or outdoors., without masks, and they will allow children to talk. She said they are still monitoring for COVID-19 positive and presumptive positive cases and will have children mask for 10 days if they have been exposed. She presented information from the following slide: