Minutes 05-12-2026-Budget Public Hearing

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14 pay with lower costs of living. She described OCS achieving 100% of schools meeting or exceeding growth as made possible by dedicated staff who are now looking elsewhere and called on the Board to fund raises and supplements to retain them. She expressed concern that the county's investment priorities, noting new parks and greenways in wealthy neighborhoods while sidewalks remain absent near Grady Brown and Cedar Ridge, do not reflect the needs of school employees. Savannah Patterson, teacher at Cedar Ridge High School, former District Teacher of the Year, and Secretary of the Orange County Association of Educators, called on the Board to raise education funding. She described working before and after contract hours, including hosting additional tutoring sessions ahead of state exams, without compensation for student transportation or equitable provision of snacks and drinks across schools. She noted that being a classroom teacher is already a monumental task and that added duties without compensation are pushing talented teachers out. She said that if she felt as though she was a professional treated with respect, that the work she does is dignified and appropriate for her expertise, she would not be making the decision to leave the profession. Kaylee Powers said that both she and her husband are teachers at Cedar Ridge High School and are involved in many extracurricular activities for students. She said she and her husband found that purchasing a home in Orange County was financially impossible on their combined educator salaries, and ultimately purchased in Alamance County. She noted that the commute to Guilford County, which offers higher supplements, is the same as from their current home to Cedar Ridge. She described being at a crossroads between staying in a district they love and pursuing a district that can support their goal of having their own children. Layla Allen said she is a teacher at Cedar Ridge High School and member of the Orange County Association of Educators. She described working as a zip line instructor on weekends and a whitewater raft guide in the summer to afford living in the community she teaches in. She described foregoing staff housing to live out of her car for two months in the summer to retain more of her earnings. She described practicing extreme frugality, including thrifting, repairing her own clothes, buying generic brands,yet still wondering why she shouldn't simply move to Wake or Durham. Alex Kaji, an educator at Hillsborough Elementary School, shared that he had taken a second job in 2019 to supplement his teaching income, eventually burned out, left the profession, and yet felt called back. He described returning as a long-term substitute and then a full-time teacher again. Using an ecosystem metaphor that he teaches to fourth and fifth graders, he warned: "If these resources are not given back into the ecosystem, things living in that ecosystem have two choices. They move away or they die." Sheri Caligan said she is an Orange County resident and Orange County educator. She read testimonies from colleagues who asked to remain anonymous. One 11-year teacher described working multiple jobs to support a family of five, with base pay barely covering main expenses. A second described working 10 additional hours per week at a second job, leaving only enough time to eat and sleep after returning home. A third with 17 years of experience, National Board Certification, and school Teacher of the Year recognition, stated that a management position in a second job would offer a better quality of life than remaining in the classroom. She questioned how the Board could propose a property tax increase while simultaneously cutting school funding and asked that the OCS budget request be fully funded. Adam Reyes, teacher at Cedar Ridge High School, described becoming an educator in 2020 and approaching the end of his sixth year while nearing completion of his first year of graduate school. He stated he was beginning to consider other districts or career paths and acknowledged that earning his degree would likely prompt him to look at more competitive counties. He noted that neither he nor his wife (also an OCS employee) can afford housing in Orange County, and expressed concern that the educators responsible for OCS's growth achievements would leave for other counties. He asked the Board to consider how to ease or postpone that transition.