The Wake County school budget proposal presented today by staff is a bleak one.
The $1.2 billion operating budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year includes a $20 million cut in the Central Services spending. That means 83 current full-time employees will be laid off and 23.5 vacant full-time positions will be eliminated.
Staff is asking for $313.5 million from county commissioners, the same as last year. Whether commissioners can afford to leave the funding amount along given the county's revenue shortfall is uncertain.
Chief Business Officer David Neter warned that the economy isn't improving so they should expect more budget cuts for the 2011-12 fiscal year as well.
The board has rescheduled the March 16 regular board meeting to March 23. It will begin at 11 a.m. with a work session on the budget.
UPDATE
School meal prices are slated to go up for the first time in many years. Breakfast is going up 20 cents in elementary school and 25 cents in middle and high schools. Lunch is going up 25 cents across the board.
Comments
Rip cord time?
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 18:53 — user12345things are really bad and getting worse ... shouldn't we be thinking of going to all YR, closing as many schools as possible, packing kids in and try squeezing all the resources possible into teachers? It seems like it might be time to pull the plug on everything (e.g. band, football, etc.) that does not contribute to kids passing the EOG/EOC, graduating or get into college.
That would be a good idea
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 21:50 — woodstockThat would be a good idea (not really) if your notion of education is strictly to impart the three Rs into the craniums of children. But education is a lot more than that. It includes art, music, social interaction, physical activity and sports, family engagement, adventure and wonderment, dances, and a whole lot more.
The greatest generation survived and thrived after enduring the Great Depression, I think we can handle this.
I thought this was the biggest story yesterday
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 16:04 — festusWe don't have the money to make many of the new board's policies work. We certainly don't have the money to pour into the new high poverty schools that will be created. We are going to end up not with separate but equal but rather separate and unequal. We should at least acknowledge that up front.
We don't have the money
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 16:50 — fiestamomI'm sorry that 83 employees are going to lose their jobs. But there is no other choice. This school board has to use the money they have. Every citizen in America has less money now, and we all are having to do with less. Local governments are no different. They set a good example by living within their means.
Would have bee nice to have
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 17:32 — Dove314Would have been nice to have that 15.5 million back from discontinuing the high school. Could have paid for educators to be in the existing school.
Done. Here, have it back, it
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 22:30 — woodstockDone. Here, have it back, it was fictional to begin with.
I'd like to have the money
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 17:54 — loriacI'd like to have the money from needlessly converting YR schools, and operating too many YR schools undercapacity.
Yes, wasn't that around
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 23:51 — DrActualFactualYes, wasn't that around $20-22 million out of the emergency reserve fund. How was it an emergency that they just had tomake MYR assignments even when the CCs said NO. At least the board is reversing some of these school conversions.
That's a fiction as well...
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 17:42 — Bob_SconceFirst of all, the number being bandied around is $14.5M.
In any case, the fiction has been exposed multiple time here: Among other things, it assumes purchasing new trailers, not moving trailers from elsewhere in the district and ignores savings achieved by moving other construction up.
This is yet another case of the administration twisting numbers to suit its own purposes.
This Only Covers The Earlier, Expected
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 16:46 — chaboard$20 million deficit, right?
This is BEFORE the new board proposes to throw away millions in federal funds by removing diversity as a criteria for magnets and before all those millions in "extra" funds Tedesco says he wants to give the poor schols he's creating, right?
And let's not forget that Stan Norwalk saw this coming and proposed providing for this eventuality in the county budget - but was overruled and voted down by the Republican moronity.
Huh?
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 16:52 — Bob_SconceSo, how are millions of federal funds being lost?
See This LTE From Sunday's paper
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 19:01 — chaboardhttp://www.newsobserver.com/2010/02/28/360522/magnet-money.html