Minutes 09-29-2022 Joint Meeting with Schools

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36 Deon Temne said that makes sense. He asked if the elected officials can get their heads together to come up with recommendations or overhaul SAPFO altogether. He said that if they are not using it, then it is a waste of everyone's time. Will Atherton said he would like to recommend another meeting so that they can have this discussion as a group. He said that if they don't commit to action and a time frame then they will find themselves in the same situation in March. Chair Price asked what the taskforce's timeline is. Bonnie Hammersley said it is a technical committee that has always been and that includes school staff. She said they could keep the March meeting and the committee could have recommendations at that time. Chair Price asked if the committee will be recommending changes because that is what the school boards are asking for. Bonnie Hammersley said that they will be addressing the comments that have been made tonight including universal Pre-K, school capital needs, and other issues that have not been put on there before. She said they will not just be bringing back what is in there right now. Will Atherton said that the group did that before COVID and produced a presentation of what it would be with Pre-K and had projections. He said that the group has done that work before and he would like a commitment to do something with the data. He said that it showed the needs for schools, maintenance, and planning. He said that it has been done before and asked why can't they start with that. Deon Temne said he agrees with Will Atherton. He said that maybe the technical committee isn't the right space for that conversation. Chair Price said what she heard is that instead of SAPFO, maybe another model would be needed she said that while the technical committee continues to work, maybe the school collaboration group with the chairs and vice chairs could begin to have conversations. Deone Temne said that the schools have a lot on their plate so it would be a good idea to check with them on availability. He said it might be a wise to come up with a different collaborative group that is smaller. He then clarified that he thought they were talking about the capital work group doing the collaboration and that he misunderstood. Commissioner McKee said six months ago he made a request to both school systems for information that he knew would require time to produce. He said that it is a request from one individual and not the Board and that he will reissue the request and hopes that it can be accommodated. Commissioner Richards said she asked for the ratio of administrators to classroom staff for Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools at a previous meeting and that she never got a response. She reiterated the request for that information. Deon Temne said he would work with staff to respond to those requests. Dr. Hamlett asked if she is referring to school administrators or district administrators. She said that she can also get information from Dr. Felder on what Orange County Schools included in their presentation. Commissioner Richards asked for district administrators to classroom staff. Deon Temne asked about the purpose for the request. Commissioner Richards said it is because they have talked about staffing and classroom teachers. She said that it was shown for Orange County and she wants to understand what it looks like for Chapel Hill. Deon Temne said he doesn't want to be doing work just for work's sake. Chair Price asked for Commissioner Richards to put the request in writing, send that to the manager and then she will get that to the superindentent. Commissioner Richards asked if she should pull the minutes from the meeting where the request was made.