Wake schools to cut spending by $11.2 million

RALEIGH -- The Wake school board agreed today to make $11.2 million in cuts, including returning $5.7 million to the county to make up for a budget shortfall.

Board members accepted the recommendation from Superintendent Del Burns to return the $5.7 million in light of the $17 million budget shortfall facing the county. So far, county commissioners have only requested the money and haven't yet required its return.

"We've come to the table ready to roll up our sleeves and come up with cuts," said school board member Beverley Clark.

In addition to the county cut, the school district has to return $5.5 million ordered by the state. Due to the projected state budget shortfall, local school districts have been told they need to return $58 million.

To cope with the loss of the $11.2 million, administrators developed a list of cuts that they said would not result in layoffs of employees. Instead, they said, they tried to look for cuts that would minimize cuts in classroom spending.

The cuts include:

* Returning $3.2 million from positions not filled due to enrollment falling short of projections by more than 2,000 students.

* Dipping into reserves for $2 million.

* Saving $1.8 million by freezing employee out-of-state travel, reducing operating budgets for central service departments by 3 percent and freezing the filling of central service positions to 90 days.

* Reducing spending on classroom materials and instructional supplies for schools by $1 million.

Administrators warned that if the economy gets worse and more cuts are needed, they may have to lay off employees.

"Our goal is to stay away from our human resources," said David Neter, the school district's chief business officer. "At some point we may not be able to. We have been for now."

In return for giving back the $5.7 million, school board members said they want more budget flexibility from commissioners. When Republicans still had a majority on the board of commissioners earlier this year, they set limits on how the school system could use county funds.