At the Aug. 26 meeting, resident Carrie Hamill used public comment time to urge Orange County officials to create opportunities for community input on an upcoming joint school board meeting and the interlocal agreements that will govern funding between the county and local school districts.

Hamill said she was seeking clarity on the terms of proposed interlocal agreements in light of what she described as large amounts of funding — she cited over $1 billion in funding going to school districts in coming years — and historical concerns about outside recommendations offered five years earlier by retired executives that she said led to fiscal trouble in another district.

She asked that county money to the school districts be contingent on stronger transparency measures, including recorded and posted school board meetings (she said some meetings she attends were not posted) and a posted dashboard with granular financial information. Hamill also urged the county to consider suspending or disbarring vendors who had been cited in allegations of state statute violations related to school spending.

"I would ask that there be tangible, open government practices as a requirement of the funding given to the school districts," Hamill told the board. "Another requirement that I would like to see is a dashboard with granule financials... I would ask that there be tangible, open government practices as a requirement of the funding given to the school districts."

The board did not take formal action on the request at the meeting. Commissioners and staff acknowledged the request and said public input opportunities would be handled through established channels tied to the joint meeting process and any interlocal agreement review.

Ending note: The public comment was entered into the record; county staff and commissioners said they would continue deliberations on the interlocal meeting and related public input procedures in coming meetings.