Fourteen school nurses, 43 deputies and 94 crossing guards could all be gone if commissioners approved an 18 percent cut in their county budget. More than 100 people signed up to speak at the meeting. One of them was 11-year-old Jessica Osborne, who asked commissioners to keep sheriff's deputies in her neighborhood.
"I live in a very, very rough area, and I found drugs right in front of my mailbox," she said.
Zandra Haywood said Monday night's public hearing was not about her, but about her children. As a parent and teacher in Cumberland County schools, she said commissioners have let her children down.
"I've been teaching them for years to believe in the system. The system will work for you, but now the system is saying, 'We don't know what to do,'" she said.
County commissioners have until July 1 to make a final decision on the budget.
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