Minutes 05-13-2025-Budget Public Hearing/Work Session

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9 3. Public Comments A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to open the public hearing on the budget and capital investment plan. VOTE: UNANIMOUS PUBLIC COMMENTS: Brian Link asked the Board to allocate additional funds to schools. He said federal and state officials have not done what they should do for schools and urged the Board to fill the gap. He said they are $2 million short on continuation. He said he is thankful for the bond and for what the commissioners have done. He said when others do not step up, the Board can. He said there is a dialogue that the Board will be the backstop and they encouraged the school district to spend down their fund balance. He said they have done that and spent $15 million worth and now they need the backstop. He said he wants to make sure they understand the outcome. He said that this continuation is a reduction of 100 FTE positions. He said that there has been a comment about going back to business. He said that they are not business. He said they are not a charter school system. He said that there is a lot of talk about equity, and he wants to clearly point out that they are a majority, minority school system. He asked the Commissioners to fund the schools for his children. Ella Horrigan said she will be going to high school next year and chose French and Latin as two of her electives. She said next year her Latin teacher at Culbreth will have to leave because the Latin program has been cut. She said she is not the only teacher that will be losing her job. She emphasized the importance of learning another language and said she is sorry that future students will not get to take Latin. She asked the Board to increase the budget for the schools, so they can keep these types of programs. Clair Werry said she is an eighth grader at Culbreth Middle School. She said the Board has funded the continuation budget in the past, but the school board has had to make cuts anyway, including to the Latin program. She said Ms. Meyer, her Latin teacher, is one of the best teachers her students have ever had, but she will be moving to teach at a private school. She said many of her friends are also moving to private schools. She asked the Board to fund the schools. Jack Wallace said he is an eighth grader at Smith Middle School. He said the CHCCS expansion budget is not just about wants—it includes needs. He said one of the items in the expansion budget is to increase support for teaching assistants. He shared a story about the impact a teaching assistant had on him and other students in elementary school. Julia Gordon said she is an eighth grader at Culbreth Middle School. She said because of the budget cuts at CHCCS, her Latin teacher has been let go for next year. She highlighted the importance of the Latin program. She asked the Board to increase the budget for schools so that no additional cuts are made. Elizabeth Young said she volunteers with the HOME Repair fund and the list is two years long. She said HOME repair funds are important and that keeping a home in good condition costs 1/10th of the cost of building new affordable housing. She said this revaluation benefits investors at the expense of historically Black neighborhoods. She said that newer and larger homes in these same communities are undervalued, while older homes are systematically overvalued. She said that she supports the increase in the AHA. She said that the revaluation does not make the system fairer. She said that she is speaking on behalf of the Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition, organizers from historic Black neighborhoods, and is supported by the Jackson Center, RENA, Justice United, and Habitat for Humanity. Andrea Tanner said she is the president of the PTA Council for CHCCS. She said she is here on behalf of 18 PTAs in the district to ask the Board to fully fund the continuation budget and