The Wake County Public School System is issuing a hiring freeze for some central office staff, as a part of an effort to save money ahead of anticipated budget challenges next year.
A note to employees obtained by WRAL News states the district is facing "significant financial challenges that will extend beyond the upcoming school year."
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The freeze will delay hiring for positions by 90 days, in an attempt to increase savings to help the district cover any budget shortfalls next year.
Some critical positions will be exempt, such as bus drivers, safety assistants, special education staff and maintenance employees.
"We think it's important to take these steps to cut costs and save whatever funds we can now to be able to go into next year with a little bit of a reserve, because we don't know what's going to happen at the state level or the federal level," Board Chairman Chris Heagarty said. "There's some very difficult decisions that have to get made. We don't know how they'll come out."
Back in December, Wake school board members had suggested a hiring freeze as a possible way to address an anticipated budget shortfall, which could be as much as $7 million dollars, and any future budget constraints. Since then, the school system has received a boost from the state for its higher enrollment and located some other savings, and leaders now believes the shortfall for this year won't materialize.
This year's constraints have been related to rising school meal costs, higher-than-expected enrollment and higher contract costs. It’s also because the district has been able to hire more people, and now they’re saving less money from attrition.
Next year, the district anticipates more constraints, because its opening four new schools, expects higher enrollment and still anticipates having more hiring success. But now the district is also concerned about potential loss in federal funding, as some members of Congress want to cut the federal budget.
Heagarty said the district is also watching for the potential effect of the expanded Opportunity Scholarship program on the district's enrollment. Last year, lawmakers voted to make all students eligible, regardless of family income, for a state-funded tuition voucher at participating private schools. The district's enrollment has risen in recent years as the program has expanded, but the program is expected to expand by thousands more students next year, and many of the state's private schools are located in Wake County.
Heagarty said the state isn't spending enough on public schools, which is placing districts in a tough spot.
"We still have the same wants and the same needs as before, but we have to be very realistic at the revenue that's out there, and with increased costs just to provide the same services, we can't provide as much as we have in the past for the same amount of money," Heagarty said. "But we also know that funds from the federal government are very likely to be cut, and we don't know if funds from the state government will cover our increased costs."
The school board goes to county commissioners to ask for more school funding, but the county is expecting to lose some federal funding, too, Heagarty said.
The notice to employees Friday morning said the district is also restricting spending to "core needs," such as direct services to students and schools, compliance measures, safety and security measures, and other "essential" operations.
Out-of-state travel is now restricted, as well.
In the memo, district officials also noted some uncertainty about future federal funding. The district has already lost about $5 million for next year from a teacher recruitment, training and retention grant.
Earlier this school year, public school systems across North Carolina saw the last of their more than $6 billion in federal pandemic stimulus dollars disappear. After this school year, schools will have to weigh whether to keep programs or personnel funded by those dollars, if they haven't already. In the case of Wake County, the school board elected to keep some of those employees -- at the cost of several million dollars to the county -- while eliminating others.