District warns of up to $10 million in possible state and federal reductions; proposes position audit and facilities planning

Craven County Schools leaders told the board during a budget work session that the district should plan for worst-case scenarios that could reduce funding by roughly $10 million in 2627 and prepare a multi-year fiscal approach.

Miss Daley, presenting the district’s working draft budget timeline and analysis, said the state has not passed a comprehensive 25–26 budget and that projected personal and corporate tax rate cuts could yield large revenue losses. She said a statewide $840,000,000 reduction to K–12 funding could translate to about $7,258,000 for Craven County Schools. On the federal side, she and staff advised planning for a potential $2,500,000 reduction tied to proposed cuts to Titles I–IV, while IDEA could see a modest increase.

"So based on the breakdown, 62.56% elected Havelock Middle School Mustangs, and 37.44% selected Freedom Middle School Aviators," Miss Wagner reported earlier about the naming survey; in the budget presentation, Miss Daley told the board the district’s next-year ADM is projected at "11,006.44" and that the district is down 194 students from the prior year.

Miss Daley walked the board through multiple drivers of recent fund-balance declines: inconsistent revenue recognition across the local current expense and special revenue (fund 8) budgets; $5.2 million and $6.0 million of fund-balance use in recent years; and recurring costs retained after ESSER, which the presenter estimated at $2.3 million for positions and $1.1 million in recurring costs including benefits.

The presentation flagged specific program impacts in planning scenarios: Title I "basic program" could face up to a 40% reduction (~$1.2M), Title II elimination (~$840,000), Title III elimination (~$118,000), and Title IV reduction (~$300,000); IDEA was modeled for a slight increase (between $33,000 and $132,000). Miss Daley said these federal figures are provisional and based on current proposals.

Board members and staff discussed facility condition and the limits of savings from building closures: several members urged development of a facilities plan aligned with a strategic plan and warned closure savings can be smaller than projected if ADM declines follow closures. Dr. Cheeseman (incoming superintendent) proposed a district-wide position audit and multiple budget-reduction scenarios to guide board decisions.

Next steps the presenters recommended included producing written updates on federal and state funding, establishing board priorities and guiding principles, defining budget parameters and required savings targets, directing administration to develop reduction options (including staffing and operational scenarios), and presenting multiple budget-reduction scenarios for board consideration. Miss Daley proposed posting the budget timeline publicly to enhance transparency.

The board scheduled further budget work and asked staff to align forecasts, facility planning, and position audit results for the March meeting window.