Kent County superintendent proposes 36 teaching cuts as enrollment falls and COVID aid sunsets

Dr. Mary McComas, superintendent of Kent County Public Schools, told county officials that declining enrollment and the end of pandemic-era grant funding have put the school system on a fiscal "cliff" and that the district will need to reduce staff to balance recurring costs.

Dr. McComas said the district has lost 224 students over the last five years. "If we had those students, that would have brought in $3,100,000 in just foundational funding," she said, citing analysis of per-pupil and compensatory-education funding. She said that $2,000,000 would have come as per-pupil funding and about $1,100,000 as compensatory education funding under the district’s calculations.

The superintendent said pandemic-era emergency COVID grants — which she said totaled $15,000,008.44 over a roughly four-year period — have been exhausted and that the district used those funds to stabilize operations during and following the pandemic. She told county officials those one-time funds could not close the school system’s recurring deficit.

To address recurring shortfalls, Dr. McComas said she plans to reduce at least 36 positions, the large majority of which would be teachers. She estimated a general planning value of about $100,000 per position for budgeting purposes and said closing the entire deficit through positions alone would require roughly 43 reductions. She said the district is offering a retirement incentive with a decision deadline in early May (the superintendent indicated May 12 as a likely date) and will use normal attrition where possible before pursuing reductions under contractual reduction-in-force procedures.

Dr. McComas said she proposes to use $1,000,000 of the district’s $1,500,000 fund balance toward the budget while maintaining the $500,000 board policy reserve. She also said the district trimmed non-personnel spending by just over $500,000 this budget cycle and had cut $700,000 in non-personnel items two years earlier, for a total of about $1.2 million in non-personnel reductions over 24 months.

The superintendent presented student-achievement data she said show notable gains after pandemic disruption: a near 20-percentage-point improvement in third-grade literacy over 24 months and roughly a 15-point gain in third-grade mathematics for the same cohort. She credited investments in reading instruction, including Orton-Gillingham training paid for with one-time funds, for part of that improvement.

Dr. McComas and Alyssa Stewart, the district’s director of budget and finance, clarified that the 36 positions being considered for reduction are general operating positions sustained during the period the district used COVID funds elsewhere; those teacher positions were not direct grant-funded positions, the superintendent said.

Other items discussed included a small unreimbursed COVID-related liability the superintendent said is about $7,900, chronic absenteeism that rose during winter months (the district said it is working with judges and plans interventions), and calendar and timeline items: the district will hold a virtual town hall May 1, the school board will vote on its budget May 5, and Dr. McComas said she would return to the county on May 6 to report the outcome.

Ending: Commissioners and other officials praised the superintendent’s detailed work, encouraged the district to use one-time funds where sensible, and said the county would consider fund-balance support if an emergency arises. The board later moved to a closed session to discuss personnel matters.