Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public questions budget transparency, CTE cuts and health reporting at Craven County meeting
Summary
A public commenter criticized the district’s budget presentation, cited cuts to CTE employment and raised concerns about reduced public health reporting and administrative spending; the board acknowledged budget challenges but did not make new allocations.
Kelly Muse, a New Bern resident, used the meeting’s public‑input time to criticize the district’s recent financial presentation and staffing trends. "The local funding that was given by the commissioners for the CTE ag position was not presented as a budget amendment on that first presentation," Muse said, and she called the finance presentation "not the most transparent" she had seen.
Muse said Career and Technical Education has experienced losses described as "almost 50 months of employment," asked what programs or positions were cut, and urged the board to explain the staffing math behind vacancy percentages. She also questioned a $16,000 furniture purchase for the central office lobby while citing staffing shortages in schools.
On public‑health reporting, Muse said Nurse Forsyth’s most recent health update was far shorter than the prior year’s 26–28 slides and asked who authorized that change. "There’s a huge discrepancy," she said, and asked the board to investigate whether submissions to the Department of Health and Human Services matched what was presented to the public.
A board member responding during public input said the district faces budget challenges that have affected programs such as CTE and indicated further discussion would be necessary; no new budget motions or amendments were offered at the Sept. 18 meeting.
Muse also criticized what she described as the interim superintendent’s responsiveness to staff emails and texts; the board offered general thanks to central‑office staff and did not take formal personnel action during the meeting. The concerns raised by Muse were entered into the public‑input record for the board to consider in future budget and staffing discussions.
