Agenda - 06-21-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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18 1 recommended for this year with the lack of an increase the past two years, this increase isn't 2 that big. She said she would rather the issues be addressed now than have a crisis later. 3 Molly Beak said she is a teacher at a Title 1 school in Chapel Hill and also has family 4 members who were educators. She said she loves her job and wouldn't do anything else, but 5 she sees people in other jobs, administration, decision-makers, etc. throw up their hands and 6 say there just isn't money, supplies, and resources, while teachers have to go in and face 7 students every day. She said teachers can't throw up their hands because they have to face the 8 students every day. She said she understands the Commissioners have to make hard 9 decisions, but asked them to imagine if they had to walk into a classroom the next day. She said 10 she only has three students who speak English at home and got 5 new students between 11 Thanksgiving and Christmas, including 2 from Afghanistan who had been in refugee camps. 12 She said she didn't throw up her hands, she got to work and all of her students have grown. 13 She said teachers have to continue to do their job every day no matter what they are given, and 14 then have to beg for more pay. She said the only time she throws up her hands is when her own 15 child wants something and she tells him it will have to wait until the end of the month. She said 16 she loves her job and wants to continue to do it, and asked the Commissioners to imagine that 17 they have to go into a classroom and tell students why they made the decisions they did. 18 Hope Love said she is a theater teacher at East Chapel Hill High School, married to a 19 science teacher, and has a child who attended elementary school in CHCCS. She said she was 20 going to discuss a metaphor. She said there is a lot of equivocating and debate in her 21 household. She said she asked her son to do something on Mother's Day and he explained to 22 her that it wasn't a job for him and it was too hard. She said her husband told their son that his 23 mother does things he asks her to all the time without explaining how she gets it done and 24 instead of gifts, she needs his help when she rarely asks. She said educators have asked. 25 Auburn James said she is a science teacher at East Chapel Hill High School, and it is 26 her 7th year teaching. She said her third year of teaching was the best year, which was also 27 when she started working at East Chapel Hill High School, and felt like she won the lottery 28 getting to work in CHCCS. She said that this year has been the worst of her career and is 29 working 3 times harder than any time before to make up for learning loss from last year. She 30 said she has held over 30 evening virtual office hours for her students to give them extra help 31 and prepare them for AP exams. She said she can't keep working like this without appreciation. 32 She said the rate of inflation is causing her grocery bill to go up. She said she doesn't know if 33 she can afford to be a teacher anymore. She said she doesn't have a spouse's income and she 34 pays her own mortgage. She said she wants to continue doing her job for her students and 35 colleagues who deserve her best and asked the Board to fully fund the CHCCS budget request. 36 37 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee and seconded by Commissioner Richards 38 to close the public hearing. 39 40 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 41 42 Chair Price said that the Board will continue to work on the budget and there will be 43 another budget public hearing in June. She said the Board was listening to all of the comments 44 and appreciates everything they do and thanked the students who spoke for their words. 45 Commissioner McKee said the fund balance of CHCCS as of the end of December 2021 46 was $15 million. He said their required fund balance is 5%, or about $3 of$4 million, so there is 47 $11 million in fund balance that the school board could allocate. He said a 3% pay increase 48 would cost $1.4 million. He said he appreciates everyone for coming out and for speaking 49 because the Board is responsible for allocating funds to the school boards, but the CHCCS 50 school board could do something about this now. 51 Chair Price asked for the person who spoke about broadband to provide their address.