New Hanover County Schools outlines allotment formula limits, proposes small cuts to per‑student supply budgets and asks county for 3% boost

New Hanover County Schools staff on the district’s allotment formulas told a joint school/county budget session that state funding rules leave significant gaps that the district currently fills with local dollars, and proposed trimming per‑student instructional supply allocations to help balance next year’s budget while asking the county for a 3% operating increase.

The district’s presenter, identified in the meeting as Ashley, said the state’s position and categorical allotments often undercount local costs: “The factor used in allocation is $46,272. That is what the state says the salary and benefits for a teacher assistant is,” Ashley said, illustrating how state dollar factors can fall short of the district’s actual pay rates.

Why it matters: Board members and school leaders warned the committee that state allotments leave the district short on positions such as counselors, media coordinators and instructional coaches, creating recurring local costs. The district plans to present a superintendent’s proposed budget to the school board on March 25 and will request county funding as part of that proposal on April 15.

Most important details - Proposed formula changes: District staff showed a draft for 2025–26 allotment proposals that would reduce the per‑student instructional supplies allocation from $65 to $60 and pre‑K instructional supplies from $130 to $120. Staff characterized those as the only current proposed formula changes and said the cuts are meant to avoid reducing staff. - Staffing pressure points: The district said the state funds 60 “instructional support” positions districtwide (a bucket that includes media coordinators, counselors, social workers and instructional coaches), while the county has about 76 counselors and 30 social workers. District staff estimated that providing one social worker, media coordinator and counselor at every school would raise local costs by about $14,000,000 annually above current state allotments. - Assistant principals and teachers: The state formula yields 24 assistant principal positions for the district, while the district currently employs 57. State position allotments for high school teachers are calculated at roughly one teacher per 29 students in a building for grades 10–12, a factor staff said produces classroom size imbalances across courses. - Enrollment and revenue assumptions: The district reported second‑month K–12 membership of 24,599 this year versus 24,858 used for current funding, a drop of about 259 students the presenter said will reduce state revenue. For next year the district is modeling a 3% salary increase (and corresponding benefit adjustments) and is assuming federal funding will remain at current levels while counting an estimated $500,000 in Medicaid reimbursement as available revenue. - Other revenue items: Staff said a FEMA reimbursement of $467,000 was received this year and that NCDOT has proposed buying 13.447 acres behind Johnson Pre‑K for about $1,700,000; both items would be applied to next year’s budget if finalized.

Discussion and reactions School board members, principals and classroom teachers described the real classroom impact of constrained supplies. When a board member asked whether teachers already buy classroom items themselves, an educator in the session replied, “No. I spend a ton of money,” and principals described prior per‑teacher allocations (about $100 this past year) as insufficient for labs, art and CTE supplies. Board members repeatedly emphasized they did not want to cut staff and framed the supply reductions as an attempt to avoid layoffs.

Several speakers urged stronger advocacy to Raleigh for allotment reform and for restoring original lottery allocations; staff said restoring the lottery’s original 40% return to schools would bring substantial statewide revenue and that district leaders had raised allotment concerns with legislators in recent visits.

County interactions and taxes District leaders said they will request a 3% local funding increase from the County for operating and pre‑K grants and asked for flexibility on where county pre‑K classrooms may be placed to better serve siblings. Commissioners and county staff noted that each penny on the county tax rate was discussed as a lever in the next six weeks; one speaker said in the meeting that “each penny from your county tax rate equates to $8,000,000,” while county materials shown in the session indicated a different per‑penny figure in slides depending on pre‑ or post‑revaluation assumptions (presenters noted the revaluation will produce further changes and said slide figures before revaluation were approximately $5,160,000 per penny).

Process and next steps District staff said the allotment proposals are not final: the superintendent’s proposed budget will be posted to the board agenda on March 25 and go to the board for a vote to transmit the county request on April 1; the formal submission to the county manager is scheduled for April 15. Staff said they are building next year’s budget on assumptions of a 3% salary increase, small increases in retirement and health insurance rates, estimated Medicaid reimbursement of $500,000, and receipt of one remaining FEMA payment that staff hope will arrive before the fiscal year end.

Votes and procedural actions The meeting record shows routine procedural motions the body approved: a motion to adopt the meeting agenda and a motion to approve the minutes were moved and seconded and recorded as passed; the session concluded with a motion and second to adjourn. No formal vote adopting the proposed allotment changes or county request was recorded at this meeting.

Ending note District officials said they would continue discussions with county staff and local legislators, bring more detailed budget documents to the next work session, and emphasize safety and behavioral supports in the budget request. The school system framed the proposed small cuts in supply allocations as a last‑resort balancing step intended to preserve staff amid rising personnel and contracted service costs.