Orange County NC Website
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25 <br /> 1 is at the top of the table for per pupil funding. He said that includes supplemental funding by the <br /> 2 special district tax rate. He said that is a pass through tax that has been around since 1909 and <br /> 3 that it is paid for entirely by the tax payers in the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School District. He <br /> 4 said that the rate is set by the Board of County Commissioners, but that it is confusing when <br /> 5 those funds are blended in with the per pupil spending. He said if you remove the special tax <br /> 6 district funds the amount per pupil is $4,367 provided per pupil from the general fund from the <br /> 7 Orange County Commissioners. He said that puts them on an even par with several other <br /> 8 districts across the state, despite the high cost of living in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area. He <br /> 9 said the point that we are not ahead of anyone on per pupil spending from the general fund <br /> 10 should be taken and that the special district tax funds be removed from the discussion. He said <br /> 11 that even if they are on the top of the North Carolina per pupil spending chart, they remain <br /> 12 below the national average. He said that in regard to continuation funding, that the County's <br /> 13 website highlights a $441 per pupil increase. He said the reality is that last year's was $0 and it <br /> 14 was $15 the year before that. He said that if you average the funding from the Commissioners <br /> 15 for the last three years, it puts them in the bottom three years of funding for the last 37 years. <br /> 16 He said that the funding effort that has been made is not as strong as it has historically been. <br /> 17 He said that he is not complaining, but he would like the data to be out there so that people <br /> 18 know what they are talking about. <br /> 19 Chair Will Atherton discussed the budget needs for Orange County Schools. He <br /> 20 discussed the increases for staff with 1-20 years of experience. He said that retaining and <br /> 21 recruiting qualified staff is important. He said that they provide years of service credit for <br /> 22 teachers. He said the result is that they are attracting more experienced teachers. He said they <br /> 23 continue to see how to compensate those above 20 years. He said they provided a years of <br /> 24 service credit. He said that the change allows employees with previous experience to transfer <br /> 25 with their years of service. He said they increased driver pay, and that they are able to maintain <br /> 26 bus routes despite vacancies by having staff drive buses. He said that some of the challenges <br /> 27 they have had included the 4% mandated increases. He said they also have a .375% increase <br /> 28 in their own budget. He said that the mandated state increase was estimated to be at 3%. He <br /> 29 said that the state funding required fully implementing K-3 classroom sizes as mandated by the <br /> 30 state legislatures. He said they have frozen all district staff positions. He said that teachers are <br /> 31 having to cover other classes during their planning periods. He said they used lapsed salary to <br /> 32 pay teachers for covering other classes. He said that by asking them to do additional work, the <br /> 33 district wants to compensate them. He said there is a $500,000 shortage in the budget that <br /> 34 they would like assistance with from the county. <br /> 35 Bonnie Hauser said that they were very happy to receive a $441 increase per pupil. She <br /> 36 said the consultant recommended that they give 1.5% staff increases, but they were able to do <br /> 37 .375%. She said there are still more positions they would like to focus on that are related to <br /> 38 equity. <br /> 39 Dr. Felder said they have partnered with EdCorp to bring in tutors for K-2 students. She <br /> 40 said they are utilizing Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for <br /> 41 staff to provide tutoring to the students. <br /> 42 Commissioner McKee said he appreciated the efforts for tutoring by Orange County <br /> 43 Schools. He said if those children are behind in K-2 it is a tremendous effort for them to catch <br /> 44 up. He said that his son needed private tutors to keep up and he undertands this need <br /> 45 personally. <br /> 46 Commissioner Bedford asked for clarification on stipends for teachers covering other <br /> 47 classrooms. <br /> 48 Chair Will Atherton said that at the beginning of the year they were unable to do so, but <br /> 49 recently identified lapsed salary that could be used. He said they also put some guiderails <br /> 50 around it so that if a teacher has more than one planning period and they are asked to cover, <br />