‘Do you support great schools?’ Wake schools ask county for $56 million budget increase.
Wake County school leaders are hoping local leaders will fully fund their budget request this year, even though it would require a higher tax increase than what’s already proposed.
The school board unanimously voted Tuesday to approve a budget plan for the 2022-23 school year that requests a $56 million increase from the Wake County Board of Commissioners. That’s nearly $18 million more than what County Manager David Ellis is recommending that commissioners provide to the school system.
Ellis is already recommending a tax rate increase of 1.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value, which would be $64.50 more per year on a home valued at $430,000, The News & Observer previously reported. Fully funding the school board’s request would raise taxes even higher.
School leaders say they need all $56 million of the increase to help fund a plan to provide employees with across-the-board raises and to meet other new expenses for next school year. Board members said they’ll make their case to commissioners, who are scheduled to vote on the budget on June 6.
“The way we really appreciate teachers is by actually compensating them and not just saying ‘thank you,’” said school board member Jim Martin. “I know the superintendent’s budget has made a real effort to do that, and we need to keep working with our commissioner colleagues to try to make that happen.”
’Critical vacancies’
The school board is asking commissioners to provide $600.2 million of its $2.1 billion operating budget. The district is seeking a 10% increase in local funding.
When Superintendent Cathy Moore unveiled the budget last month, she said $35.2 million of the $56 million increase would go toward paying staff more. Wake, like school districts across the state and nation, is facing severe staffing shortages that have forced the remaining employees to do more.
“We know we have critical vacancies we have to fill,” said board vice chairman Chris Heagarty.
The school budget calls for giving support staff, which includes cafeteria workers, teacher assistants and bus drivers, at least $16 an hour. Teachers would get a 2.5% increase in the local salary supplement to match what the state is expected to provide.
Other areas the school board’s proposed increase would go to include:
▪ An additional $8.3 million to meet state legislative requirements such as additional funding for charter schools.
▪ An additional $6.4 million to help open four new schools.
▪ An additional $5 million to increase maintenance spending.
▪ An additional $960,000 to hire more instructional support technicians.
Davd Neter, the district’s chief business officer, says 78% of the $56 million increase would go toward raising employee pay and meeting state legislative requirements.
The state’s responsibility
Ellis, the county manager, wants to provide the school system with $582.5 million, which he told commissioners is well above what the county is statutorily required to provide.
Ellis said his proposed $38 million increase in school funding can fund the school board’s budget priorities, including facility maintenance, employee compensation and benefits, opening new schools and special education.
At the same time, Ellis said compensation for school employees, textbooks and programs like literacy coaching and child nutrition are supposed to be funded by the state.
Over the past several years, the Democratic majority on the Board of Commissioners has sharply increased school funding.
School board members said they agreed that the state needs to provide more education funding. But they also said their costs are fixed so they need full funding this year.
With so much of the funding increase focused on raising employee pay, Heagarty said he doesn’t think the school board can back off on its request.
“We have to ask the community, the citizenry of Wake County, do you support great schools?” Heagarty said. “And if you are, and if you do, are you willing to make the investment we need to keep them great?”
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 10:42 AM.
