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State to keep nearly $1 million from local schools
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Published: November 19, 2008
HICKORY - Catawba County public schools will not receive nearly $1 million in promised state funding from Raleigh for the 2008-09 school year.
Local school districts across the state are being asked to trim their budgets to help ease a North Carolina state revenue shortfall.
The Department of Public Instruction told the 115 districts and 86 charter schools Monday the reduction in funds is based on student populations. The amount equals about $39 per student. Called a reversion, school systems are expected to make cuts in their budget from state-allocated money and notify the state where the cuts will be made, said Kathy Isenhour, assistant superintendent and finance officer for Hickory Public Schools.
Newton-Conover City Schools doesn't plan to make any cuts, said Kathy Carswell, finance director for the school system. Although their plan isn't finalized and still needs approval from the school board, she said the system will likely no longer pay two teacher positions with state money. Instead, Carswell said the salaries would probably be paid for with money from the school system's fund balance — money the system has in reserve.
"At this stage of the game, we don't want to affect the classrooms," she said. "It's really sad that all of a sudden, we're expected to give money back. It's a shock."
Carswell said she's worked with school systems for 17 years, and although the state issued a spending freeze in 1995-96, saying schools couldn't spend any more money, this is the first time she remembers a reversion after the school year started and the budget's been established.
Hickory Public Schools isn't sure where, exactly, its $186,481 cut will come from.
Isenhour said the Department of Public Instruction requested schools make efforts to reduce spending without affecting classroom services. However, the money the state government gives schools comes with the stipulation of spending it primarily on transportation or in the classroom. Isenhour said school systems can't cut construction, insurance or other spending, because state money isn't allocated toward that.
"It will be affecting the schoolhouse because there are specific areas where the money can be spent," she said. "We don't want to impact the classroom, but we can't guarantee that. The state's making these cuts after just the first quarter of revenue's come through. We were told by the associate superintendent of public instruction last month that the schools would probably not be expected to revert funds, so I don't know where this is coming from."
Isenhour said she's gathering information from several departments in the school system to see which areas can withstand cuts. When that decision is made, though, money won't actually be handed back to the state.
"By December, we'll say where the cuts will be made, and they'll change the allotments in those areas," so they get less money, Isenhour said.
Catawba County Schools, too, hasn't made any final decisions on what areas will be trimmed, said Tim Markley, superintendent of the school system. He said they are still looking at different areas of the school system to eliminate $695,000.
"Any cut we make will impact instruction," Markley said, adding, "We do not anticipate cutting any positions."
Schools are not allowed to cut driver's training funding.
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