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27 <br /> Travis Myren noted that the number of students declined at the start of the pandemic and <br /> the numbers have not gone back up. <br /> Chair Bedford asked what changes occurred between budget cycles to increase CHCCS's <br /> continuation budget. <br /> Travis Myren said the school system assigned around $5 million to salary adjustments. <br /> He said around $3 million was used to address the state required increases and the rest was <br /> used for increases for classified staff. <br /> Chair Bedford said it would be nice to have a breakdown of the factors that led to the <br /> increase. <br /> Bonnie Hammersley said CHCCS's continuation budget also includes a 4% increase to <br /> address salary adjustments for next year, while the county's does not. <br /> Vice-Chair McKee asked what percentage of total schools funding goes to each school <br /> district. <br /> Kirk Vaughn, Budget Director, said the split is 40%-60%. <br /> Chair Bedford said she doesn't need the information she requested today, but it would <br /> help her moving into budget season. <br /> Vice-Chair McKee said this looks like a much larger percentage than 4%. <br /> Travis Myren said it is because of the salary adjustments they made to be competitive in <br /> the market and recruit and retain employees. <br /> Vice-Chair McKee asked how much the percentage increased from last year. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said the increase was 16.5%. He said they also have the district tax which <br /> goes up a smaller amount, so the general fund has to cover a larger percentage. <br /> Vice-Chair McKee asked if the $9 million increase to CHCCS's continuation budget would <br /> be covered fully by the county. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said yes. <br /> Commissioner Hamilton said the same way the county spends the majority of its <br /> continuation budget on personnel, the schools have to do the same. She noted that the state <br /> required salary increases that the schools had to meet and they are struggling to recruit and retain <br /> employees, so she thinks the increase makes sense. <br /> Chair Bedford and Vice-Chair McKee both said the increase is just larger than they would <br /> have expected. <br /> Chair Bedford said CHCCS also chose to include paternity leave, which was their choice <br /> vs. a mandate from the state. <br /> Commissioner Hamilton said decisions had to be made to retain personnel, and the Board <br /> has not yet heard what the Manager will recommend to retain Orange County personnel. <br /> Bonnie Hammersley said another difference between the districts is CHCCS is expecting <br /> a larger percentage of funding from the state. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said CHCCS is expecting 5% from the state, and OCS is expecting 3%. <br />