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29 <br /> QUESTIONS, FEEDBACK, ^. <br /> NOR <br /> 1 <br /> 2 <br /> 3 Commissioner Hamilton asked about staff not being compensated for holding master's <br /> 4 degrees. She asked for the positions that includes. <br /> 5 Rhonda Rath said it includes teachers, instructional facilitators, social workers, and <br /> 6 counselors. She said that in 2013, state legislators voted to take away master's pay for that <br /> 7 population. She said that those holding the degree at that time were included, but those that <br /> 8 earned since 2013 do not receive the pay. <br /> 9 Commissioner Bedford asked what the estimated fund balance is. <br /> 10 Rhonda Rath said the estimated unassigned fund balance is about $2.1 million. She <br /> 11 said the 5.5% would be $2.2 million. <br /> 12 Commissioner Richards said that Governor Cooper's proposed budget would reinstate <br /> 13 master's pay. She asked if classified employees were given any raises last year. <br /> 14 Rhonda Rath said that classified staff were given bonuses using fund balance. She said <br /> 15 that ESSER funds were used for the items to implement professional development and <br /> 16 curriculum after the funds are gone. <br /> 17 Commissioner Richards asked about the cost of bonuses and how much fund balance <br /> 18 was used. <br /> 19 Rhonda Rath said $1.3 million. <br /> 20 Commissioner Richards asked if certified and uncertified staff received bonus pay. <br /> 21 Rhonda Rath said it was given to all staff. <br /> 22 Commissioner Greene asked how Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools used their ESSER <br /> 23 funding. <br /> 24 Jonathan Scott said they received $19 million in total recovery money. He said that <br /> 25 about $12 million has been used. <br /> 26 Commissioner Greene asked if it was being used to its full extent. <br /> 27 Jonathan Scott said early on they realized it would be available for 3-4 years and they <br /> 28 wanted to spread the money out. He said that a majority of money was used for COVID <br /> 29 mitigation and feeding students, transportation, MiFi's, and money for technology. He said the <br /> 30 first allocation of CARES Act was used primarily used for COVID mitigation and remote <br /> 31 learning. He said that moving out of pandemic phases into in-person learning, their first <br /> 32 allocation of ESSER funds were around $4.5 million and ESSER 2 was around $7.5 million. He <br /> 33 said that one of the requirements was that they provide a summer school program. He said they <br /> 34 spent $2 million on those efforts. He said that additionally, the board recognized there were <br /> 35 problems with recruitment and retention. He said that they are being used for signing bonuses <br /> 36 and additional recruitment strategies. He said that ESSER 3 requires that funds be spent on <br /> 37 unfinished learning, so they must go directly into the classroom. He said they provided a virtual <br /> 38 learning for high school but no virtual option for K-8 students. He said they found that although <br />