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Joint Meeting with Schools

Orange County · Board of County Commissioners
Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Regular meeting Budget and appropriationsSchools and educationIntergovernmental agreementsLitigation and settlements

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Orange County's commissioners met jointly with both school boards on 29 April 2025 to hear each district's budget request and a joint presentation on what federal cuts would do to them. The commissioners then went into closed session with their attorney.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Chapel Hill-Carrboro built its case around keeping teachers. Its finance officer said the district is losing candidates to neighbouring systems that pay a master's supplement, which the General Assembly removed for new entrants in 2016, and that exit surveys name it as a reason staff leave. The expansion request would reinstate master's pay and raise the local supplement from 18 to 20 percent for the first fifteen years of employment, matching surrounding counties, and restore some positions cut when the fund balance fell. Certified staffing stands at 99.2 percent overall and 94.8 percent for exceptional children positions. The retirement rate has risen from about 4 percent to 25 percent over 25 years. The budget assumes no legislated increases from the General Assembly.

A commissioner said everything in the expansion request would benefit students and staff, and that the cost would require a large tax increase, so he would have to be convinced it can be funded.

On federal money, the districts said federal funds cover 5 to 6 percent of their budgets. Orange County Schools has already lost a $30,000 grant that put local produce on school menus, and puts probable losses at 15 to 20 percent of both Title I and special education funding; it uses federal money for instructional interventionists supporting beginning teachers and students behind grade level. Chapel Hill-Carrboro has had no notice of cuts but expects Title I to be where they start, and noted Title I also pays for services to unhoused students.

The county manager said $20 million in federal money flows through the county budget, some of it supporting positions directly and some of it housing choice vouchers, and that about $230 million in federal funding provides direct benefits to Orange County residents. The chair asked people to call their senators weekly.

How the votes went

Votes were taken to go into and out of closed session and to adjourn, all unanimous. No budget decisions were made at this meeting.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (5)

Presentation · 3Discussion item · 1Closed session · 1
  1. 1.a Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Budget Presentation
    Presentation Budget and appropriationsSchools and education
    The expansion request would reinstate master's pay, raise the local supplement from 18 to 20 percent for the first fifteen years, restore positions cut when the fund balance fell, and cover subscription-based curriculum against a state textbook allocation of $350,000. The budget assumes no legislated increases.
  2. 1.b Orange County Schools Budget Presentation
    Presentation Budget and appropriationsSchools and education
    The district is hiring many teachers through alternative pathways and uses federal money for instructional interventionists who support those teachers and students behind grade level.
  3. 2 Joint Presentation on Federal Funding Impacts
    Presentation Budget and appropriationsIntergovernmental agreementsSchools and education
    Federal funds cover 5 to 6 percent of both districts' budgets. Orange County Schools has lost a $30,000 local produce grant and puts probable losses at 15 to 20 percent of Title I and of special education. The county manager said $20 million in federal money runs through the county budget and about $230 million in federal funding reaches county residents directly.
  4. 3 Group Discussion and Collaboration
    Discussion item Budget and appropriationsIntergovernmental agreementsSchools and education
    The chair asked all three boards to bring subjects beyond the budget to the September joint meeting.
  5. 4 Board of Commissioners Closed Session
    Closed session Litigation and settlements
    Held under G.S. 143-318.11(a)(3) to consult with the county attorney.
    Reconvened in open session at 9:07 p.m.

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