NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The New Hanover County Board of Education will take up a resolution Tuesday calling on the state to step up its funding game for exceptional children.
Put forth by board member Josie Barnhart, the resolution asks the North Carolina General Assembly to “revise” its funding formula to reflect “actual EC enrollment and service needs rather than an arbitrary percentage cap” and “provide supplemental funding or relief for districts like New Hanover County.”
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The state caps EC funding at 13% of the district’s average daily membership, leaving districts with a higher percentage of students with disabilities having to find money to fill in the gap, as federal law requires all students with disabilities be accommodated.
With 3,293 of its 24,560 student body identified as EC, New Hanover County Schools exceeds the state’s cap at 13.9%. The near 1 percentage point overage has a financial impact of $564,927.34 this fiscal year, money that covers 101 students that are left out by the state’s EC cap.
The resolution states the unfunded gap “places a disproportionate burden on local resources, limits the district’s ability to provide essential services, and compromises our efforts to meet both state and federal requirements for EC programming.”
The resolution will get a formal vote at the school board’s Dec. 2 meeting, though board members discussed it ahead of time at their agenda review meeting before Thanksgiving.
Barnhart shared she pulled the resolution’s verbiage from one in Lee County and believes some other districts are considering similar resolutions.
“In our conversations with our county commissioners this year, specifically discussing funding, we discussed how we have a few exceptional education students who cost us a lot of money to be able to be responsive to their needs, some upwards of over $100,000,” Barnhart said. “This would kind of allow us to put some data and share with the General Assembly where we are, what that looks like, and how that would affect us in, I think, a positive way.”
Barnhart added the resolution is in line with the board’s legislative agenda, in which a tiered EC funding model is a priority. Most of the board expressed support at last week’s meeting.
Board member Tim Merrick said he liked the measure but asked if the Advisory Council for Exceptional Students had been consulted on the language. Barnhart said they had not, claiming she didn’t have a contact for the group (which Merrick acts as liaison to).
Assistant Superintendent for Support Services Julie Varnam said she has discussed the funding cap on several occasions with the advisory council.
Board member David Perry expressed concern over losing other funding in the state budget to accommodate the EC request instead of receiving an overall larger sum.
“‘OK we’ll cut teacher salaries to give you more EC funding’ — I mean, this is not what we want,” he said.
In response, Barnhart said the resolution specifically addresses reevaluating the cap and doesn’t dictate how the state should do that.
Also in support was board member Pat Bradford, who has cautioned against state-aimed resolutions in the past for fear of breaching the board’s “lane.” She said the half-million needed to fund the EC gap was a “big deal,” and the resolution would allow her and the board to contact legislators and try to get them on board.
“This is one of my passions here, to get this thing done, and I’m thrilled we finally got a resolution,” Bradford said.
Board member Judy Justice reminded the meeting’s attendees North Carolina is 49th in the percentage of its gross domestic product it spends on education, according to nonprofit Education Law Center. It is also 48th in education funding, spending $11,777 in state and local revenue per public school student in pre-k through 12th grade — 30% below the national average.
“We really need to push these legislators to give our kids what they deserve,” Justice said.
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