June 21, 1993 - 7:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Recessed)

June 21, 1993The Johnston County Board of Commissioners resumed session Monday, June 21, 1993, at700 pm in the Commissioners Room, Johnston County Courthouse Annex, Smithfield, NorthCarolina, with the following members presentNorman C Denning, Chairman, Frank B Holding, Vice Chairman, James W Cash, John MBooker, DVM, Jerry F Wood, DDS, Eleanor N Creech, and Cecil M MassengillAbsent NoneAlso Present Richard B Self, County Manager, Joyce H Ennis, Clerk to the Board, and JohnR Massey, Finance DirectorThe Chairman called the meeting to order and the following business was transacted1 Proposed 1993 -1994 County Budget - School PresentationBoard ofEducation Chairman, Gordon Woodruff, gave the following remarks concerning theschools budget requests for FY 1993 -94As I offer my remarks to you tonight regarding the budget needs of the Johnston CountySchools, I would like to begin by saying on behalf of myself and the Board of Education a sincereThank you to the members of the Commission for your generous support to the Johnston CountySchools Because of your strong assistance, the Board of Education has just implemented a plan ofaction which will see over 22 million of capital improvements to our facilities over the next threefiscal years This plan will result in the construction of new elementary schools at Cleveland andClayton; new classroom buildings at Wilsons Mills, Corinth - Holders, and Princeton; and significantimprovements at South Johnston High, Smithfield Elementary, Clayton High, South SmithfieldPrimary, and Benson Elementary Schools When you add to those the recently- opened new schoolsat North Johnston Middle, Four Oaks Elementary, Clayton Middle and Selma Middle, plus last yearsrenovations to Glendale - Kenly, Micro -Pine Level, Four Oaks Middle, and Meadow, it is apparent thatwe have indeed made great strides forward to upgrade our facilities on a countywide basisThis is not to say that we are completely out of the woods as far as our facilities are concernedGrowth in the western and southern ends of our county will continue to put strains on our schools andour resources, and we can already see the need for a new middle school and a new high school to beconstructed in the Cleveland - Pleasant Grove area within the next five years Also, we cannot ignorethe maintenance and upkeep of our existing, older facilities Nevertheless, the good news is that, forthe first time since Ive been on the Board of Education, I can say that we have turned the corner onmeeting our facility needs This simply could not have happened without your assistance, and we arevery appreciative of all your helpNow that our county has made such progress in addressing our facilities needs, we as a Boardof Education must concentrate more effort on our primary mission, that is, strengthening theeducational program for our childrenThis is my fifth budget working with you, and I am perhaps the most anxious that I have beenin any of my previous budget meetings On the one hand, I feel that we have gotten a handle on ourfacilities needs and that we have put ourselves in a position to truly excel in the classroom Yet, on theother hand, I know that the Johnston County Schools has been dealt two potentially crippling blows -not of our own making - which threaten to destroy all the progress that we have made These twofactors - utilities costs and unprecedented growth - have put an enormous strain on our budget and,therefore, on our request to you for the upcoming yearTwo years ago, as the General Assembly searched for ways to balance the states budget, itchose to cut out assistance to local Boards of Education to cover utilities costs Since then, we haveopened two new schools and air conditioned others With this one line -item alone, the loss of utilitiesfunds has cost us over 700,000 Of course, we have no choice but to pay for the utilities Therefore,if these state funds are not replaced with local revenues, our system will have to make over 700,000in cuts elsewhere to compensate for the lossThe other critical factor is the growth we are experiencing in the western end of the countyFor years, the Johnston County Schools had a relatively stable student population However, not onlyhave we recently opened two new schools, but also, we have seen growth of 736 new students overthe last four years We all know the stress this growth has caused and will continue to cause to ourfacilities Yet, by the same token, it increases demand for books, supplies and other current - expenseitems which the state simply does not provide In order to maintain our SACS accreditation, we haveto provide these students with certified media personnel, assistant principals, and other additionalsupport staff which the state will not fund For example, just for supplies for these new students, wehave spent an additional cumulative expenditure of over 45,000 Also, in the last two years, we haveearned 54 additional state -paid teachers in locally -paid supplements, however, these teachers havecost us an additional 58,000 during that time In all, these growth factors constitute roughly 570,000of our requested increase410Both of these factors have put our system under severe financial stress Needless to say, thecosts arising from utilities and growth are not going to just go away We have no choice but toabsorb and pay them However, if the funds are not replaced by additional local funds, the result willbe a significant loss of locally -paid teachers, as well as a greatly increased class size In short, it wouldbe a crippling blow to our systemOne other aspect of our budget request that is extremely worthy of your consideration is ourgoal to reduce the size of kindergarten classes from 26 to 21 students per teacher where permanentclassroom space permits We estimate the cost of achieving this goal to be approximately 260,000,which will be used to hire additional teachers for these students It is our strong belief that a reductionof class size at the kindergarten level will enable us to better serve those children and give them a firmfoundation during this crucial formative periodUnder the leadership of Tom Houlihan, I believe the upcoming year holds great potential forthe Johnston County Schools We have undertaken steps to strengthen our curriculum, to raiseexpectations and standards, and to address the needs of our customers On recent statewide tests, ourstudents performed above their counterparts throughout the state on 18 out of 20 tests We are makingsignificant progress, but the job is far from completedIf I were to compare our situation to that of a private industry, I would say that we have greatmanagement, an adequate physical plant, and a committed work force However, even with all thesethings in place, we still must have adequate operating capital Without it, all the other ingredients willgo for nought We rely upon you to provide us with the operating capital that is essential for oursystem to succeedJim Valvano used to say that he wanted to keep his team close until the final three minutes ofa game, when he would then inspire them to seize the victory I would say that for our schools, we arenow in the last three minutes of the game How ironic it would be if now - having addressed ourfacilities needs, having installed innovative leadership, and having begun major improvements in theclassroom - if now, after accomplishing everything else, we fail to complete our task and lose thegameIn my heart, I believe that, if you could, you would fund every single dollar of our budgetrequest; in my head, I realize that this would be a very difficult thing for you to do And yet, we arenow in a unique position to be successful for education in Johnston County in a way that years agowould have never seemed possible As with the facilities issues, our Board cannot solve this problemalone We ask for your continued help and support, and we make to you a pledge that we will workhard to be worthy of bothChairman Denning thanked Mr Woodruff and stated the Commissioners want to help the SchoolBoard meet their goals; however, he reiterated the fact that funds are limited He asked if the Board ofEducation members could give the Board an amount short of the requested 27 million increase that wouldsatisfy the most pressing school needsMr Woodruff responded the increase in requested funds represents a variety of needs, most of whichrelate to growth and the added responsibility for funding all utility costs He spoke of the need to reduce thesize of kindergarten classes stating the School Board hopes to add locally paid kindergarten teachers in allschools where the physical space is available This would create approximately 20 additional classescountywide He introduced two parents, Rodney Sawrey and Marcia Armstrong who presented petitionsrequesting smaller K -3 classrooms throughout the County and remarked on their concerns as parentsMembers of the Board of Education who were present, Kay Carroll, Deacon Jones, Denton Lee, andWayne Stewart, offered brief remarks about the schools needsMr Woodruff and the other School Board members concluded by thanking the Commissioners fortheir support in the past and assured the Board they will continue to operate the county schools to the bestof their ability with the amount of money made available to them He expressed appreciation to CountyManager, Richard B Self, for all his hard work and the excellent working relationship he shares withSuperintendent, Tom Houlihan2 Resolution Beaver Control ProgramCounty Manager, Richard B Self, informed the Board a bill is being considered in the NC House ofRepresentatives, HB 123 9, which would enact a statewide beaver control program similar to the pilot programrecently implemented in several eastern countiesFollowing discussion, Commissioner James W Cash moved the following resolution be adoptedRESOLUTIONWHEREAS, Johnston County is a political subdivision of the State of North Carolina; andWHEREAS, Johnston County landowners are experiencing significant flooding and loss of timber due tothe influx of beavers; and411WHEREAS, the North Carolina General Assembly is now considering House Bill 1239 that will expand onthe existing pilot program and provide a beaver damage control program for all counties inNorth Carolina; andWHEREAS, passage of this bill as it currently reads would appropriate 500,000 to implement thestatewide beaver damage control program; andWHEREAS, the Johnston County Board of Commissioners understands that participating counties wouldcontribute 5000 into the statewide beaver damage control programNOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Johnston County Board of Commissioners fully supportsHouse Bill 1239 and strongly urges the General Assembly to take whatever steps necessary to assure thatHouse Bill 1239 becomes a reality, so that a statewide beaver damage control program can be implementedas soon as possibleThat a copy of this Resolution be provided to each legislator in Johnston CountyUnanimously adopted this 21 st day of June, 1993Commissioner Cecil M Massengill seconded the motion which carried by unanimous vote3 Budget DiscussionFollowing discussion on the 1993 -94 budget, the Board agreed to the following adjustments to theproposed budgetA Livestock Arena - Remove Capital Outlay in the amount of 4,600B Hospice - Reduce by 10,000C School Appropriations Total increase to Schools Current Expense 1,300,000Funding as follows500,000 from School Capital Outlay Represents Cleveland School Debt Service300,000 from Fund Balance500,000 from funds left available for budget expansion itemsD 42 for salaries to remain - 3 cost -of -living increase for all employees and the remainingfunds to be used for salary adjustmentsE Additional personnel would consist of 2 deputies currently funded with federal grant money,1 social worker position 100 state funded, and 1 Child Support Agent 100 State FundedF Appropriate 5,000 for Beaver Control ProgramG Kenly Tobacco Museum - Up to 10,000 to match Wilson Countys contributionUpon a motion by Commissioner John M Booker, seconded by Commissioner Frank B Holding andcarried by unanimous vote, the Board recessed until 700 pm Wednesday, June 23, 1993Norman C Denning, ChairmanJoyce H EnnisDetailsAnnotationsEntry PropertiesModified11192013 15538 PMCreated572003 93723 AMTemplateMinutesFieldsMinutes - TypeRecessedMinutes - Date6211993Book19