Wake County School administrators presented a budget proposal to the school board Tuesday night that no longer includes previously proposed cuts to special education. However, district staff did not yet provide details about all the alternative cuts that might be made to make up the difference.
An email from the district's top special education administrator sent to many teachers in the department last month had outlined an $18 million cut to special education services, including a loss of up to 130 teacher positions. Following an outcry from educators and community members, the school board directed district officials to find alternative budget cuts at a special called meeting two weeks ago.
"Board, I do want you to know that administration hears you," Superintendent Robert Taylor said in his monthly comments to the board. "I'd like to think we responded accordingly."
Tuesday's budget presentation called for $5.2 million in cuts, with the bulk coming from a decrease to the length of employment for literacy coaches and adjustments to the transportation budget based on annual spending.
Taylor's proposed budget also requests a $25.3 million increase in local funding over the current year to be requested from the Wake County Board of Commissioners. The school board is responsible for passing a budget and will make its final request to the county by May 15.
In recent years, the Wake County School Board has requested year-over-year increases in local funding in the range of $50 million. Wake County Schools' Chief Business Officer David Neter said the county no longer has the capacity to fund that great of an increase, because its tax revenue projections are trending downward.
"Wake County previously had projected revenue growth of $40 to $50 million. I think that number is maybe about half that now," Neter said. "They have a lot of responsibilities. We are just one of them."
Neter reiterated the rising costs and uncertainties that are putting pressure on budget planning at school districts across the state, and said he'd present specific alternatives to special education cuts at the school board's April 21 work session.
Wake NCAE rallies
Members of the Wake chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators held a rally outside the board meeting to support special education funding.
"What do we want?" "No cuts!" educators chanted as they marched.
Megan Yourkavitch is a special education teacher who said this was her first time ever attending a Wake NCAE rally after becoming a member a few months ago. She said the proposed cuts to special education motivated her to come to the protest.
"It's directly impacting my students, (and) could affect whether I have a job or not – which is something as a teacher I never thought I would have to struggle with," Yourkavitch said.
Wake NCAE had been planning a campaign to call for more funding for special education services even before potential cuts were proposed three weeks ago.
"Our petition demands have been lost in the sauce," Wake NCAE's President Christina Cole told the school board. "We've been saying 'no cuts' for weeks in response to the whispers of a restructure, but have been talking to decision makers – you all – for months about our proposed solutions to addressing the ongoing crisis in special education."
Cole highlighted NCAE's plans to hold a large protest outside the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh on May 1.
"Will you join us on May 1 on Halifax Mall, shoulder to shoulder to tell legislators that this is the toughest budget season you've ever seen?" Cole asked board members.
School board passes bond resolution
The school board also passed a resolution Tuesday to request that the Wake County Commissioners pass a $680 million bond referendum to be put on the ballot for voters. The school district estimates it will need more than $832 million by 2029 to build new schools and make facility repairs.
Board member Cheryl Caulfield asked how the bond would affect local taxpayers, and district staff said they worked with county commissioners to craft a request that fits within the capacity of the county's debt models.
"Based on what they feel like they can support with all the other needs and other bond referendums that may be on the agenda for this fall, this is how we arrived at the number," said WCPSS's chief of facilities and operations Mark Strickland.
Superintendent Taylor said this is one of two bond requests to the county, with Wake Technical Community College also requesting a bond for construction needs.
