To all participants of recent discussions about Moore County Schools Funding issues –

Happy New Year and thank you for attending a MCS funding discussion hosted by Parents for Moore. We appreciated the opportunity to share with you how MCS is funded and the urgent challenges facing our school system. You asked how you can help support the schools, make a difference in the future, and ensure that there is adequate funding for teachers, staff and programs.

This email is to provide you with some initial action steps for NOW:

• More info will be coming in the weeks and months ahead – so please stay tuned and make sure this email address is excluded from your spam list.
• ENGAGE: it really doesn’t take much to engage and make a DIFFERENCE.  We need VOICES to make a difference. Collective voices brought back Dr. Bob in 2015…let’s unite again to make our voices/desires for our schools heard.
• ATTEND and/or SPEAK at an upcoming Regular Board of Education Meeting – Tu 1/17, Mon 2/13 and Mon 3/13. Be there by 6:25 to sign up, public comment is usually between 7 and 7:30. This is an opportunity for you to tell the Board of Ed (and elected officials listening) what you expect MCS to do (cut more? Ask for more funding?); Why is MCS important to you? Your family? Your kids? Your community? Those are just some ideas – but they need to hear from you that you want/expect the School Board to request funding for from county/state levels. MCS and BOE do not wish to cut any programs, but without additional funding, cuts will be made for this coming school year.
  
• ATTEND and/or SPEAK at an upcoming County Commissioners Meeting – (first and third Tuesday each month; 1/17…2/7…2/21…etc). The Board has a public comment period at the beginning of each meeting.  Individuals must sign up to speak by 5:30pm.  The Chair will individually recognize speakers, who will be given 3 minutes to make comments.  Click here for the public comment period procedures. The CC provide all local MCS funding; They NEED TO HEAR FROM US WHY WE VALUE MCS AND CANNOT LOSE CURRENT SERVICES. We need their help to allocate sufficient local dollars.
• SHARE this email with friends who were not at the meetings and ask them to attend an upcoming scheduled budget talk. These are: Jan 20th at Vass-Lakeview (Media Center 7:30am by Parents for Moore); Jan 23rd at Union Pines High School (Auditorium 6:00pm).
• SCHEDULE a “funding talk” with Parents For Moore for your community organization, school committee, workplace, church group. Reply to this email to get it scheduled! 
• EDUCATE yourself and stay abreast of issues and information about MCS funding so that you can be a good advocate. Resources include
  

1. BOOKMARK the Parents For Moore website  https://parentsformoore.org/
2. “LIKE” – Parents for Moore Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/parentsformoore/
   or follow on Twitter @ParentsForMoore
3. REVIEW the current slide show presentation  01-13-2017_mcs-budget-presentation-for-parents_community
   
4. LISTEN – to Bill Sahadi’s radio broadcast “A Year of Budget Challenges, Anticipation, and Hope” from 1/7/2017  http://www.foreproperties.com/our-blog/moore-county-schools-a-year-of-budget-challenges-anticipation-hope/
   (with Karin Kent, Clark Campbell, and Mike Griffin)
5. ATTEND / WATCH Board of Education Meetings on UStream (both live and archived) – http://www.ncmcs.org/BoESchedule
6. ATTEND/WATCH Board of Commissioners Meetings (both live and archived) https://www.moorecountync.gov/board-of-commissioners/meetings