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MINUTES LOCAL EDUCATION COMMISSION FEBRUARY 26, 1965 The Local Education Connnission met Friday, February 26, 196~ at 2 P. M. in the Board Room of the Fulton County Administration Building with the following members present: Mr. P. L. Bardin Dr. Rufus Clement Mr. Alan !U :!pper Dr. John Let son Dr. James }filler, Jr. Mr. Thomas Hiller Mrs. Allen Ritter Mr. Kenneth Stringer Mr. William Teem, III Mr. Fred Turner Dr. Paul West Dr. Rufus Clement was introduced and welcomed as the new member of the Connnission. Minutes of the December 11, 1964, meeting were read and approved. Mr. Stringer presented the bill from Dr. Truman Pierce for consultant services and expenses f rom July 1, 1964, through January 1, 1965, which totaled $2,585.60($2,400 consultant services, $185.60 expenses). Mr. Stringer moved that the bill be pai d. Hr. Fred Turner seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Mr. 3ardin briefly reported on a letter from Representative Jack Etheridge concerning the Interim Report . He also read a portion of t he letter from Mr . Leonard Robinson expressing apologies for being absent as much as has been necessary and sugge sting that the Connnission reconnnend that the present Fulton County and Atlanta Schools be divided into two equal district s. · Mr. Turner expressed disappointment that the Connnission had received only two letters since the approval of the Interim Report. He said he had hoped that there would be considerably more interest in the work of the Connnission than the two letters reflect. Mr. Kiepper stressed the b r:portance of completing the report of the Connnission in time for the legislators of Fulton County and DeKalB County . to become thoroughly familiar with it before the first meeting of the next General Assembly. He st a t ed that his experience has been that legislators do not have t ime for very many meetings and discussion periods after the General Assembly convenes. Dr. Letson reported t hat Hr . Ed Meade, Jr . from the Fund for the Advancement of Education had been contacted to ascertain interest in financing the current study of the Local Ec ucation Connnission . It was Mr . Meade's opinion that the foundation would not be interested in such a project. No formal request has been made but could be if the Connnission de sires. �:V.ir. Bardin reported that Dr. Pierce 1 s original contract expired in January of 1965, and recorrnnended conti nuing it. Mr. Thomas Miller r.~oved that Dr. Pierce 1 s services be continued until the f i rst meeting date of the 1966 General AssenbJ_y at a fee not t o e1:c eed $3, 000 plus expenses. The motion was seconded by Mr. r ennet h Stringer and passed unanimously. It was agreed that if Dr. Pierce I s servic.es are needed beyond that date this could be arranged by m·tual consent. Mr. Bardi n stated that during the past month or so some questions and points have been raised concerning whether the Commission should continue · with the same course of action. There ·seems to be considerable agreement that, if voted on today, the voting public would turn down the proposal to combine the two systens. This raises questions concerning how the Commission should proceed. He then suggested that t he Conunission deviate somewhat from earlier plans and develop only a broad general outline for combining the two systems. This skeleton outline will be presented to the representatives as soon as this session of the General Assembly is over. Suggestions from the representatives will be included in the final draft of the report of the Connnission. Hrs. ~i tt er asked what has happened to cause the Commission to consider c';,eviating from its preYious position. It was pointed out that the people must decide whether the systems will be co1:ibined and, currently, it is believed that they vould defeat such a proposal. Also, funds to finance an elaborate s tudy have not been forthcoming; some teacher groups are speaking out a gainst combining the systems; and, the amount of work involved i n developing a comprehens ive detailed outline would be somewhat meaningless unless there wa s some assure.nee that the plans could be in.plemented. It seems bes t to get approval of the i dea bef ore some of the specifics ar e developed. For exanple, to draft all of t he bills required to merge the respective ret ireoent sys tems would be an unnece ssary expenditure of funds and energy unle ss agreement had been reached t hat the two systems would be combined. hr . Turner pointed out that we need to discuss t he entire i ssue wit h t eachers in both systems so that they will be well informed. Dr. Letscn stated that before these di scussion grovps can be meaningful., certain questions oust be answered. For e:;~nple, it should be det ermined if adequat e_ finances wil l be available on a long range basis to operate n combin3d system equal to or better than what each system now has. Dr. tvest said that in his discussion with County teachers he had focused attention upon the need of cor.1bining the two systems, the need f or additional finances and the point that t he City was not trying to usurp the County's prerogat ives. Also, he had pointed out that it would require several years to develop all the details for combining the systems into an entirely new system. One sys t em would not be absorbed into the other. (2 ) �It was agreed that a skelet on report should b~ developed which would outline the steps to be taken t o combine the two systems and provide adequate information necessary to ~~ke intelligent decisions. This report should anticipate pertinent questions and atte:-:1pt t o answer them. For example, the report should st a t e that the pens~on pl2~s currently in operation are not actuarially sound. If the syst ems cor~ined, the retirement benefits for any teacher will not be reduced because of joining the two systems. Other points which must be presented pertain t o the salaries, financing the new system, addi tiinal non-ad valor em taxes, t:L-:.1e tables for certain phases of the program to be completed, the selection of ~card Me:obers and other pert5~ent infon,ation. After this report has been complet ed the Corrnnission will review it and make suggestions. Then the report will be reviewed by the two Doards of Education and by the representatives fror.1. Fulton and DeKalb counties. Suggestions fron the various groups will be incorporated into the final draft of the Cor.nnission's report. Hr. Fred Turner then made the mo·cion that the skeleton outline with appropriat e information be developed and presented to the Commission for approval and to the two Boards of Education and the representatives from Fulton and DeKalb count ies f or suggestions. The motion was seconded by Mr. Teem and passed unanir.1ously. Mr . Teem ' s suggestion that the report also show the cos-: for operating a cor.1bined system for a period of time, the cost for operating the two syst ems separately for the same period of time and the combi ned cost of operating each syst em separately was accepted. Mr . Bardin di scussed a letter from Dr . Jerry Hiller requesting that a talk outline concerning combining the two systems be developed. Mr . Alan Kiepper stat ed that all of t he pertinent decisions of the Commission to date were included in the Interim Report which he had used as a basis for speeches. Dr. Pierce surmnarized his i nt erpretations of the decisions made during the meeting. They are as follows: a. b. c. The earl ier decisi on of t he Commissi on in favor of a single school dist rict is unchanged but procedures and next steps are t o be modified according to the discussion today; A skeleton plan for conbining the two school systems shot'l d be developed which will give attent ion to the :r.iany vi tal quest ions which shocld be answered before the vot ers can mke an obj ective decisi on on the i ssue, and This plan will be revi ewed by t he Commission, the boards of educat i on, and the members of t he General Assembly from Fulton and Der~l b c ounties. Thei r suggestions will be sought and gi ven consideration i n the f inal repor t of the Commission. The meeting was ad journed at 4 P. H. ECH:cw March 4, 1965 Recor ding Secr etary Approved by: ___________ Chairman (3) �