Wake schools squeezed by higher costs in pandemic, no new county funding

The coronavirus pandemic has ratcheted up costs for the Wake County Public School System as county officials hold the line on school funding to deal with their own budget problems.

Lower sales tax revenue because of weeks of business shutdowns and a projected decrease in property tax revenue in a soft economy have left Wake County with a $30 million shortfall for the budget year that starts in July.

"We are experiencing some real financial problems," Commissioner Sig Hutchinson said Thursday.

Less money to spend means commissioners have to cut from programs they had hoped would grow in the next fiscal year. A proposed budget calls for cutting more than 100 county jobs and reducing support to various programs.

The proposal attempts to spare area schools from cuts, keeping their funding for 2020-21 at current levels. But Board of Education Chairman Keith Sutton said flat funding amounts to a budget cut for the growing district.

"It is going to be painful for us all. It is going to be painful for schools," Sutton said.

The pandemic has already squeezed the district financially, he said. While closing schools for the final two-plus months of the year saved on utilities and fuel for buses, that was outweighed by the extra cost of providing equipment for remote learning and feeding many students at home.

"With so many investments related to COVID, it now has everybody in a strain," Sutton said.

Federal relief funds will help in some areas, he said, but it can’t be used for all of the district's needs.

"We can’t use CARES [Act] funding for opening of a new school and additional new students," he said. "Our hope is that, as we grow with the number of students, the funding from the county will at least keep pace with whatever growth that we see."

Funding enrollment growth is expected to cost about $12 million, Hutchinson said, and commissioners have asked county leaders to try to find the money.

"[We want] to see if the manager can find those particular funds," he said. "[It's] not easy to do, not easy to do for sure."

Other programs would need to be cut, Hutchinson said, noting the county really cannot increase property taxes now.

"I do not see a lot of appetite for it, personally, not this year – people are really hurting," he said.