NEW HANOVER COUNTY — New Hanover County Schools face a $2-million deficit as the state budget that passed Tuesday includes salary increases and bonuses for school employees at an increased rate than anticipated. Superintendent Chris Barnes said asking the county isn’t anticipated but will be his final recourse to square escalated costs.
“You know, there’s lots of different things that we need to explore before we go back and say, ‘Hey, we need more money,’” Barnes said. “Now, will I never ever do that? I can’t say that I’ll never do it. No, but it would be my last resort.”
He stated the local government has been supportive of the school system and is not at fault for the new funding gap. New Hanover County set aside $111.4 million for the school district. The district asked New Hanover County for a 3% increase in operating expenses, but the county gave 4% instead, which equals $855,000. Barnes hopes to utilize some of it to help defray costs, along with other measures.
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“This is more of a state concern for me, simply because the lack of consistent funding at the state level hasn’t kept up with the needs of kids,” Barnes said. “Do I need funding? Yes. Do I care where it comes from? Not really, as long as I can support children.”
The school district’s deficit comes as a result of the state legislature’s $34-billion budget, passed after more than two years without one. The budget gives the largest starting teacher pay raise in nearly 50 years, with average salary increase of 7.8% and one-time bonuses for state-funded school employees.
New teachers are expected to get a 17% raise, with veteran educators receiving 5%. One-time bonuses include $1,750 for school custodial and nutritional staff, $1,000 for other certified school staff and assistant principals who have 16 years or more of experience, and $500 for those with 15 years or less of experience.
Barnes broke it down at Tuesday’s school board meeting, seven hours after Governor Josh Stein signed the budget into law.
At the top of the meeting, before the school board of education voted to confirm the agenda for the evening, member David Perry requested a 5-to-10 minute information session be added for budget discussion. When nobody seconded his motion, Perry rebutted with: “I think our public has been waiting for a while.”
He did not vote to confirm the agenda, though Pat Bradford, Judy Justice, Tim Merrick and Pete Wildeboer did. Melissa Mason and Josie Barnhart were absent.
Barnes put the $2-million deficit into perspective for Port City Daily on Thursday: “That’s 22 teachers.”
However, his goal is not to cut positions, but to find small ways to save additional money. Barnes explained schools are already functioning at a “subsistence level” and he cannot cut any more staff.
At the meeting, Merrick asked for “a point of clarification” about the $2-million loss if raises are given to teachers.
“I believe there may have been something that has missed the public’s attention,” Merrick said.
Barnes clarified how school funding comes from three levels: federal, state, and local.
“When the state passes a raise, they will only finance or send the money for the state-paid employees that are in that bucket. We will never give a raise that’s different,” Barnes said.
To Port City Daily, Barnes said the North Carolina budget covers state employees’ raises and bonuses, which accounts for around 60% of New Hanover County district staff. Any increase for staff paid at a local level must come from the schools; they budgeted for 3% raises and did not anticipate bonuses.
In addition, the schools had predicted a 1% increase in how much the district had to put into employee retirement accounts, coming in at around 25.5% of staff’s yearly salary. However, the new budget increased the number to 26.1%. Currently, teachers who make a yearly salary of $58,000 cost the schools approximately $90,000 to employ. With the increase in retirement funds, this number also will rise.
On top of state funding from the budget, the district is also expecting state allotments — the amounts of money sent to schools based on pupil head count. Barnes expects to receive the numbers soon from the Department of Public Instruction and then will “be able to calculate where we are heavy and where we are not.”
He told Port City Daily he also would look at smaller budget items, line-by-line, to see what he may be able to decrease or remove. But Barnes thinks the district can make up for $1 million by tightening its belt. He said since April they have left open positions vacant and limited supply purchases to create a buffer.
“It’s all about, you know, how are we all working together as effectively as possible. If I get everybody to turn the lights off when they leave a room, will that save us 20 grand by the end of the year?” Barnes said.
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