The Wake County Public School System superintendent on Tuesday released her proposed $1.7 billion budget for the 2019-2020 school year.
Superintendent Cathy Moore on Tuesday evening laid out the proposal that calls for a $48.8 million increase in local funding. Moore said that $19.5 million of that request is driven by the need to meet state requirements.
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“In fact, 40 percent of my proposed request for increased local funding addresses only state requirements, such as money passed directly to charter schools, consequences of new class size legislation and the local share of pay increases, retirement funding and hospitalization costs,” Moore wrote in a letter.
Although school leaders said that a slowdown in net student growth relieved some funding pressure for the district, $8.2 million of the budget will go towards the cost of operating four new schools; Parkside Elementary School, Southeast Raleigh Elementary School, Alston Ridge Middle School and Green Level High School.
Moore said $4.5 million would be allocated to pay for the phase-in of smaller class sizes in kindergarten through third grade. The change in class size would fulfill a legislative requirement passed last year that put a cap on elementary school class sizes.
The proposed budget allocates $8 million for deferred operational needs including teacher salary supplements, compensation for non-certified staff, maintenance and operations and instructional support technicians. Many of the increases in this category would take place as part of a five-year phase in, Moore said.
“Salaries in these areas have eroded to the point where some vacancies now linger for months. At the same time, the amount of money spent on maintenance has fallen well below industry standards,” Moore said about the need for funding.