Craven County commissioners vote to fund a CTE teacher position after state allocation drop

The Craven County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Aug. 4 to provide local funds to cover a CTE teacher position that the county school system would otherwise lose after a drop in state funding tied to recent declines in student enrollment.

Vice Chairman Jones told the board that the state’s pandemic-era “hold harmless” policy for average daily membership (ADM) has ended. The change, Jones said, caused a reduction in state-allocated positions for Craven County schools and would result in the loss of one CTE position. Jones said the fully funded annual cost of the position, including salary and benefits, is approximately $92,885.

The commissioners voted to provide the funds to the school system so the position would remain staffed for the coming year. A motion to fund the position carried unanimously on roll call.

Why it matters: Commissioners and speakers described the CTE program as a workforce pipeline that trains students in trades and technical skills—agriculture, construction, small-engine repair, health science and computer programming—that local employers hire for directly out of high school. Several commissioners and board members said the county’s CTE courses have waiting lists and that losing an instructor would reduce capacity for students preparing to enter the local workforce or community-college programs.

What was said: Vice Chairman Jones told the board he had spoken with Superintendent Stout, who explained that the state sets staffing based on ADM and that the district had seen reductions since COVID-era waivers ended. Jones said the $92,885 figure includes salary and benefits (he described benefits as roughly 30 percent of salary) and represents the cost to keep the CTE position in place for the 12-month period.

Commissioners who spoke in favor pointed to regular visits to CTE classrooms and to partnerships with local employers and community college programs. One commissioner said the district maintains a waiting list for certain CTE tracks and argued that cutting positions would reduce students’ direct-entry employment opportunities.

Process and next steps: The board voted to make the local allocation and noted that decisions on how the school system uses the funds rest with the Craven County Board of Education. Commissioners said the county appropriation is intended to hold the CTE staffing level harmless for the coming year while the school district manages schedules and assignments.

Provenance: The topic first appears in the meeting when a commissioner raised constituent calls about reduced CTE funding and asked the county manager for an update (transcript excerpt: "...received a lot of calls... reduced funding from the state for the career technical education program..."), and the discussion concluded with a roll-call vote recorded later in the meeting (transcript excerpt: "Mister Smith? Yes. Commissioner Howard? Yes... Chairman Booker? Yes.").