Wake schools will make more budget cuts. Here’s why it says they’re needed.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Superintendent will seek $25M local increase and proposes cuts to balance budget.
- Special-education costs exceed capped state funding, prompting reductions.
- Child nutrition shortfalls, rising fuel and inflation push deeper budget cuts.
Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor plans to ask for a local funding increase of around $25 million this year along with higher school meal prices and budget cuts in areas such as special education.
Taylor previewed on Tuesday the budget proposal he plans to release to the school board on April 7. Documentation for Tuesday’s presentation repeatedly emphasizes how budget reductions will be needed this year because of inflation and uncertainty about how much local, state and federal school dollars will be available.
“When costs go up & and revenues remain flat, something must be given up,” according to the presentation.
Wake County is North Carolina’s largest school system. It has 160,413 students, more than 20,000 employees and an operating budget of $2.3 billion.
But for this school year, the district made nearly $20 million in budget reductions by taking steps such as eliminating 286 positions, reducing the amount of teacher pay increases and changing thermostat settings in schools.
Taylor and other school leaders have been warning for months that more cuts would be coming in the new budget. Once the budget is presented April 7, the school board will consider changes and send it to the Wake County Board of Commissioners.
Special education cuts coming
The specific details of the proposed new cuts won’t be released until April 7. But Taylor plans to give some hints on Tuesday.
One area school leaders warn will be impacted next school year is special-education services.
North Carolina provides about $5,500 for each special-education student. But the state caps the funding at 13% of a district’s enrollment.
Wake is among 85 of the state’s 115 school districts whose special-education population is more than 13% of its enrollment. This means 14,919 special-education students across the state aren’t getting state funding.
School leaders in Wake County and the State Board of Education are asking state lawmakers for more special-education funding.
In the meantime, Taylor’s presentation says growing special education student needs and rising service costs continue to outpace available funding.
Wake lists specific challenges such as growth in preschool special education services and increasing high-cost placements and specialized supports. Last year alone, the school board approved at least $1.3 million in settlements in special-education cases where families sued or threatened legal action.
“Even with current year cost-cutting measures, a budget reduction will be required for 2026-27,” the presentation warns.
Higher school lunch prices expected
A sore spot in recent years has been how prices for school lunches have been going up each year. That’s not going to change.
“Meal price increases will be proposed for next year,” according to the superintendent’s presentation.
School child nutrition programs are supposed to be financially self-supporting. But Taylor’s presentation warns that without revenue changes, the district is on the cusp of dipping into its operating budget to balance the child nutrition budget.
But when local funds are required to support child nutrition, the presentation warns “what will be cut from the operating budget to support?”
The district is citing factors such as inflation from rising food costs and higher labor costs for leading to the problems.
In addition, Child Nutrition is absorbing more debt because the school board wants to continue serving regular meals to students who’ve run out of money in their meal accounts.
Previously, the district had been saving money by serving those students a cheaper alternative meal of only fruits and vegetables. But this practice drew concerns it was publicly shaming students.
What the superintendent’s budget won’t fund
The presentation says the superintendent’s budget will support things such as the cost to open the new Hilltop Needmore Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina and maintaining magnet school programs as federal grants expire.
The district also plans to continue the funding needed to maintain the dental insurance program for staff. The district had backed off from eliminating employer contributions to employee dental insurance one of this school year’s budget cuts.
But the presentation lists several things the new school budget won’t include:
- Funding for new programs.
- Funding for prior multi-year initiatives.
- Expansion of existing programs.
- Expansion of existing support structures.
The district has historically dipped into its rainy day fund to meet needs. But, according to the presentation, the district’s reserves have dropped to the point where they’re limited now to assist in balancing the budget.
Wake blames lack of state funding
The school district gets the majority of its funding from the state. But the district has increasingly relied on the county to make up for what it has called insufficient state funding.
Taylor’s presentation notes how North Carolina is the only state that didn’t adopt a budget last year and that the state spends $6,000 less than the national average in per-pupil funding. In addition, the presentation points to how the Education Law Center ranked North Carolina dead last in terms of school funding effort.
School leaders said they’re concerned about the pending “fiscal cliff” from further state tax cuts reducing revenues.
“North Carolina is flush with money,” school board vice chair Sam Hershey said after the presentation. “There is a ton of money in the state. It’s a choice to underfund public education and other services in the state.”
Wake also gets federal funding that it says now appears to be stable for next school year, But the presentation says there’s less total federal revenue available so they must spend less, which means something must be given up.
Wake to ask county for less than normal increase
Over the last four years, commissioners have given the school system an average annual increase of $49.7 million, which has led to a sharp increase in property taxes. The commissioners approved a $40.3 million increase for this school year.
But Wake’s enrollment dropped this school year and came in 2,000 students below projection. Wake is blaming factors such as a decrease in foreign-born migration due to changes in federal immigration policies and an increase in funding in the state’s private school voucher program.
Wake is only projecting an increase of 48 students for this fall.
The $25 million increase Taylor will ask for from the county is the smallest hike the school district will have requested in recent years. The presentation says the amount is based on an understanding of Wake County’s capacity and the “changing landscape of local funding capacity.”
A presentation for Wednesday’s joint meeting of the school board and commissioners shows net property tax revenues re only projected to grow by $7.8 million this year. Anything higher, including funding a $25 million increases for schools, would likely require a tax increase
The $25 million is less than what the district says it needs to meet new needs. So it says it will require budget reductions.
Middle East uncertainty
Wake is keeping its eye on rising oil prices due to the military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices have gone up 60% over the last six months.
The rise in oil prices is leading to higher diesel fuel costs for school buses as well as increases in production costs for goods and services.
Wake says it has enough diesel fuel to run buses through April. But the district plans to make budget adjustments to cover fuel costs through the end of the school year.
All of the issues Wake is facing is leading the presentation to say it’s “perhaps one of the most challenging budgets to prepare in the past 20 years.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 2:38 PM.
