Why Wake school board is only asking for $25 million more this year from county
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wake school board voted 7-2 to ask for a $25.3 million increase for next school year.
- Board paired the $25.3 million request with more than $15 million in budget cuts.
- County manager recommended a 2-cent tax-rate hike to help fund schools and other services.
The Wake County school board wants $25.3 million more in local funding this year at the same time it’s making more than $15 million in cuts that some teachers say shouldn’t be made.
Citing the county’s limited financial resources, the school board voted 7-2 on Tuesday to ask for a $25.3 million increase for next school year instead of the average $49.7 million hike it’s gotten in recent years. The funding increase is coupled with a lengthy list of budget reductions, including reducing the number of high school assistant principal positions.
“We could not meet all the needs, and we didn’t do all the asks that we desired to in our heart,” said board member Toshiba Rice. “But we have come to a place where we’re trying to do the best we can and be as most reasonable as possible.”
The vote came as some board members and the Wake County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators have argued the district should ask for what it needs and not what it thinks it can get.
“These reductions do not support improved student achievement, increased educator stability or safe and enriching learning environments,” said board member Christina Gordon.
Gordon and board member Cheryl Caulfield were the two no votes.
The budget request now goes to the Wake County Board of Commissioners. On Monday, County Manager David Ellis recommended providing a $25.3 million increase to the school system — the same amount proposed by the school board.
County revenue challenges cited for smaller request
Last month, Superintendent Robert Taylor presented a $2.3 billion operating budget for the 2026-27 school year. Taylor included a request for commissioners to increase funding by 3% to $768.2 million a year.
Taylor reiterated on Tuesday that he didn’t ask for as much of an increase as in past years because the county only has around $8 million in new tax revenue this year. Wake County is seeing tens of millions of dollars of less revenue this year due to property tax exemptions and appeals, The News & Observer previously reported.
“One of the things I’ve tried to do is to be very attuned to what the county’s financial situation has been,” Taylor said during Tuesday’s board work session. “What I can tell you is what we were expecting to be $40 million in additional revenue, that’s way down.”
School board vice chair Sam Hershey said he had been worried that they might only get a $10 million increase this year from the county.
Ellis recommended a tax-rate increase of 2 cents per $100 of assessed property value to help fund the $25.3 million increase for schools and other county services. That would cost the owner of a $450,000 home, the county’s median assessed value, an extra $90 in their county tax bill.
“If they had a normal funding year, I’d ask for $15 million to $20 million more immediately,” Hershey said.
School board member Lynn Edmonds said she’s willing to take the heat for not asking the county for more given all the increased school funding that commissioners have provided in recent years.
“This is not a normal budget cycle for them either,” Edmonds said of commissioners. “I cannot in good conscience put them in a position to be the ‘bad guys.’”
More than $15 million in budget cuts
The board’s budget doesn’t include any new programs. Instead, district officials say that issues such as inflation and state-mandated increases means it’s going to cost more to maintain what’s already provided.
Due to the limited amount of new tax revenue, the budget has more than $15 million in reductions, including:
- Don’t fund $1.1 million in increases in extra-duty pay. This goes to employees who do additional duties such as athletic coaches and school department chairs.
- Reduce transportation department spending by $2.5 million.
- Reduce funding for elementary school literacy coaches by $2.2 million.
- Change the funding formula for high school assistant principals by $1.2 million. Ten schools would lose one position and one school would lose two positions.
- Remove $440,289 in instructional support positions used for tutoring.
- Remove seven vacant positions in Academic Advancement and Chief of Staff and Strategic Planning divisions to save $836,489.
- Reduce central office budget for contracted services, supplies and subscriptions by $523,000
The school board had made last-minute budget changes on Tuesday such as eliminating the increases in extra-duty pay. This was done to avoid cutting $1.2 million in funding for high school enhancement teacher positions such as arts.
The board had earlier nixed more than $10 million in special education reductions that would have come from eliminating 130 special-education teaching positions. This led staff to come up with alternative budget cuts such as reducing the high school assistant principal positions.
School board member Chris Heagarty said the special-ed cuts didn’t reflect the board’s values.
“I think we’ve worked hard to prioritize our most vulnerable students,” said Heagarty, who chairs the board’s budget committee. “I think we’ve in some ways been creative to avoid cuts that we as a board see as being negative to our students and our staff.”
Should school board ask for more than $25 million?
The budget cuts had prompted protests at board meetings by Wake NCAE, which had urged the district to ask for a bigger funding increase from the county. That concern was echoed Tuesday by some board members before the vote.
“I don’t want to remove anything,” said Gordon, the board member. “I think we’re removing too much. I will ask the elephant in the room. Why are we not asking for more if that’s what we need?”
Gordon said she’s not asking for $20 million more than what the superintendent proposed. But Gordon said $25.3 million isn’t a large enough increase given the concerns that have been raised about lack of staff in special education.
“We were given a number and being asked to work in that number, and we all know that number is not reasonable,” Gordon said. “We know it doesn’t address the major spec ed concerns that we have.”
Board members said they would continue to work to address the special education issues.
“Our responsibility is to make sure that our special education is done in a way that’s not just sane for our educators but is also meaningful for our students who are receiving the education,” said board member Wing Ng. “We’re not just babysitting them. We’re actually educating them.”
State lawmakers accused of underfunding schools
Multiple school board members blamed state lawmakers for Wake’s situation .
“I cannot articulate my rage at the North Carolina General Assembly for what they’ve done with the erosion of public school funding in this state over the past decade plus,” said Edmonds, the board member. “That is the root cause for why we are here.”
Edmonds was one of several board members who referenced attending Friday’s rally that brought thousands of teachers to Raleigh to protest for increased pay and more school funding.
Board members cited the speech from the county manager who said property taxes would be lower if state lawmakers fully funded their responsibilities for state prisons and public schools. School board members also warned about the impact of legislators trying to restrict how much counties can raise property taxes.
“Instead of stepping up and responsibly funding services like public schools like they’re constitutionally required to do, the legislature is working on bills to stop counties from collecting the revenue they need,” said board member Jennifer Job. “It’s really boggling the mind.”
