Guilford County Schools officials presented next year’s budget recommendation at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.
The district is looking to request roughly $307 million from the county for its operating budget. That’s a 9% increase from last year’s appropriation.
But during the meeting, officials said even that amount wouldn’t be enough to cover expenses without making reductions. Superintendent Whitney Oakley explained how the district has tried to stretch its resources.
“We've had to use combination classes in grades one and two, and grades four and five, which is not ideal in an elementary setting," she said. "But it is one way that we've been able to sustain teaching and learning and not add additional staff or classrooms.”
GCS has also scaled back on instructional tools, tutoring offerings and transportation. Officials added responsibilities for assistant principals and increased caseloads for exceptional children (EC) teachers to avoid hiring more staff.
North Carolina provides EC funding for 13% of a district's total student population. But Oakley says Guilford County Schools serves more EC students than that.
"Our special education population is one of our two fastest-growing populations. So we're not funded for the kids that we're serving in special education," she said. "And so we had no choice but to increase the number of students served by caseload, because we don't have funding to hire more teachers."
The district has also frozen hiring for vacant positions in its central office and is closing three schools next year.
Board Member Crissy Pratt said it was important for the public to know about these decisions.
"People look at the numbers and say, 'Oh, you're just asking for more money,'" she said. "And I think it's very important for the public to hear and for us to hear, as we make decisions, what kinds of cuts are being made."
The budget recommendation does, however, include $13 million for teacher and classified staff pay raises to bring GCS more in line with peer districts.
It also allots more than $4 million for security upgrades, which include new weapons detection scanners.
The school board will hold a public hearing on the budget on April 14 before voting on the request.
