Minutes: October 15, 1999
Facilitators and Attendance
Facilitating the meeting were Mark Kelly and George Alwon of The Raleigh Consulting Group, Inc.
There were 22 members present. They are listed as follows:
| Name | Affiliation |
| Jim Talton | Chairman, Citizens Advisory Committee |
| Allen Jones | DJB Construction Group |
| Ann Rollins | PTA |
| Brooks Gulledge | Residential Contractor |
| Chuck Fuller | Citizens for a Sound Economy |
| Diana Bader | PTA |
| Don Walston | Howard, Perry & Walston |
| Dr. Edna Black | Education Management Consultant |
| Ferris Chandler | Retired, Cooper Tool |
| Ginger Graves | Teacher at Campbell College |
| Joe Sansom | State Treasurers Office |
| Joe Whitehouse | CMS |
| John Boylan | Spectrum Properties |
| John Hood | John Locke Foundation |
| Joyce Fennell | Teacher |
| Larry Dickens | DOT |
| Nellie Tomlinson | Attorney - Womble Carlyle Sandridge Rice |
| Randy Jones | Rhone-Poulenc In-House Attorney |
| Renee Shaw | Banker |
| Terry Yeargan | Bovis Construction Corp. |
| Tim McBrayer | Signature Publishing |
| Truman Newberry | Architect |
Minutes
The minutes for the meeting of October 15, 1999 are as follows:
1. Introduction
Each member of the committee stated who they were, what organization they were with, and why they were in attendance.
2. Minutes Question and Answer
The committee had no comments about October 1 meeting minutes.
3. Mission Review
The committee reviewed the charge and agreed to keep it as previously written.
4. Guidelines
The following suggestions were made on decision making:
- Both majority and dissenting opinions
- Green and red light sessions
- 2/3 majority for final decisions
- Postpone how we decide
Attendance
- Quorum - 21 present
- If you cannot attend, tell Rita
- If you just don't come, you "make the list"
Communication
- Back-up to e-mail
- Bulletin board - existing Web site- public
- Rita set-up
Meetings
- None between Dec. 10 and Jan 5
- Frequency - every two weeks
- Meeting time - two hours
- Let's discuss day of week - (survey members)
- Place - Wake County Commons Building
Other
- Stay focused
5. Operating Budget
Dr. Merrill gave a presentation on the operating budget. Dr. Merrill will give Rita copies of the official budget for the October 22 meeting. Attached are the questions from the group regarding finance issues. Dr. Merrill will seek staff responses and will provide answers to these questions in the next few days. Rita will send these out to the committee members.
6. Next Meeting
- Oct. 22 at Wake Commons 1-5 p.m.
- Oct. 29, 2-5
- Nov. 12, 2-5
- Nov. 19, 2-5
- Dec. 3, 2-5
- It was suggested that the committee break into small groups to discuss local flexibility.
- Ray Massey asked the group to pay special attention to the summary section of "A Report on Capital Building Program Needs" for review in the next meeting.
- George asked the members to think about what types of materials they would like to have for the next meetings.
- The committee will invite Bill McNeal to one of the next meetings to discuss curriculum issues.
- Ray Massey will invite Corey Duber, as a resource, to the Oct. 22 meeting to discuss security and safety.
- Why did the bond fail? The committee will invite other resources such as: Taxpayers Association, Wake Education Partnership, PTA, university-dept. survey?, Chamber (3 surveys), Bill McNeal, and Karen Banks.
The next four proposed meetings are:
Questions on Finance Issues
1. Are there any other items the county funds on our behalf? Expenditures similar to debt service
2. Are there any other items the state funds on our behalf?
3. Are there any other funds that are not reflected in our budget?
4. Comparisons to benchmark districts
5. Is the breakout of object code in the form of a pie chart in the book?
6. Corporate Sponsorships - by school vs. system-wide vendings, cell towers, etc.: Should this be pursued as an avenue for a revenue source?
7. Add per-pupil expenditure data for 1998-99 to table.
8. Give committee members a budget document.
9. Is there a report comparison of salaries plus benefits to other districts' "total package".
10. Issue of local dollars used to make up for unfunded or underfunded mandates (ex: AG, Special Education)
11. Historical data teacher-related vs. others
12. Per-pupil expenditure by benchmark districts
13. Do any benchmark measurements pull data from "other than public school" sources? Public vs. private vs. charter, etc. Show test scores by rank on same chart as PPE data. Teacher pay data by benchmark districts.
14. Cost of living adjustments in salary comparisons
15. When will compensation data be released?
16. Position allocations - standardization among schools re: arts positions, etc.
17. Total cost savings - if state dollars were allocated as one allocation vs. by program, what would be the savings?
18. Should Wake County or groups of urban areas lobby the state for more equitable funding across the state?
19. What type of analysis is done once federal dollars are exhausted?
20. Comparisons with other types of schools/charters/private schools - Richard Milburn
21. Value of benchmarking
22. Collective effort within community regarding
23. Committee's charge would include looking at county since state/federal dollars are restricted.
24. More local control
25. State should fund all the costs of teachers.
26. Amount of money per child for magnet schools/non-magnet