NC schools may see fewer students this fall, but they don’t want state funding cut
State education leaders want the General Assembly to protect North Carolina public schools from losing money this year if fewer students enroll during the coronavirus pandemic.
State funding is tied to a school’s enrollment, and it’s uncertain how many students will return this school year before a COVID-19 vaccine is developed. Amid these fears, the State Board of Education passed a motion Thursday to ask for legislation to prevent school districts from losing funding if student enrollment drops.
“Among the many things that COVID-19 has revealed is the tenuous financial position that many of our districts face,” state board chairman Eric Davis said Thursday. “It’s important in these uncertain times that we ensure adequate funding for our public schools.”
The request comes as the state could face a $4.2 billion budget shortfall due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus and the shutdown implemented to stop its spread, The News & Observer previously reported.
The situation is so dire that the UNC Board of Governors told chancellors on all 17 campuses to submit plans for cutting their budgets by up to 50% as a worst-case scenario, the N&O previously reported.
The majority of North Carolina school districts and dozens of charter schools are opening the school year with only remote instruction because they say it’s not yet safe for face-to-face classes.
Lawmakers will review school request
Lt. Gov. Dan Forest was among the board members who unanimously voted for the motion. Forest is the Republican candidate running this fall against Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Lauren Horsch, a spokesman for Senate leader Phil Berger, said Berger’s office would review the board’s request.
“We are also waiting to see what the next federal package could look like,” Horsch added in a statement. “The bad news is the economy took a significant hit because of the shutdown. The good news is that thanks to responsible and prudent budgeting, North Carolina was able to maintain education funding in line with the previous fiscal year budget and provide teachers a bonus.”
Joseph Kyzer, a spokesman for House Speaker Tim Moore, said in a statement they look forward to working with the state board to continue developing budgets that prioritize education communities.
The state provides school funding on student enrollment projections for districts. Funding is cut if enrollment falls short during the first two months of the school year.
Even in the districts that will resume face-to-face classes, a mix of in-person and online classes will be used. The public school systems are dealing with state-mandated social distancing requirements that limit how many people can be on campus.
In addition to the uncertainty of how to count attendance in this new environment, some families are opting to home-school their children or attend private schools. Even before the pandemic, traditional public schools had been losing enrollment as more families opted for charter schools, private schools or home-schooling.
Schools say they may not have enough resources
Vance County Superintendent Tony Jackson, an advisor to the state board, said districts face the possibility of some families deciding they’re not comfortable with returning until later in the school year. He said districts need flexibility in how to calculate enrollment, or else they could lose money they need to educate students.
“At some point point, we’re all going to come back face-to-face,” Jackson said Thursday. “My concern is that I’m not going to have the resources at my disposal to meet the social and emotional needs of my students and my staff when that happens.”
Principals also have a personal reason for worrying about the state cutting funding due to enrollment decreases. Much of their state-funded salaries are based on how many students are at their schools.
“I’ve heard from a number of principals across the state who are concerned that their ability to provide for their families and the incomes that they’ve come to depend upon — which are linked to enrollment — are going to be potentially and unintentionally impacted as a result of the wild swings in ADM (average daily membership) in their districts,” said Matt Bristow-Smith, principal of Edgecombe Early College High School and an advisor to the state board.
But Dallas Woodhouse, director of strategic operations for the conservative-leaning N.C. Civitas Institute, described the situation as a case of the school bureaucracy thinking taxpayers should fund students who left the public schools.
“Is this not like McDonald’s expecting me to pay them for food they did not give me?” Woodhouse tweeted Thursday. “They want money for kids they are NOT educating, because in many cases they are refusing to do so on a way that works for families?”
