Avery County schools report $194,000 deficit; board seeks a lower funding request after headcount declines

Dr. Terri Worrell, interim superintendent of Avery County Schools, told the Board of Commissioners on May 8 that the district is anticipating a $194,000 deficit and that the system took $400,000 from the school fund balance to cover shortfalls in the Food Nutrition Program.

Pat Edwards, chair of the Avery County Board of Education, said a grant covered 86 percent of nutrition costs, leaving 14 percent unfunded. Edwards and Worrell said an increase in the USDA reimbursement rate had the effect of depleting resources faster than anticipated, and the board had not fully been aware of the resulting funding gap.

Commissioner Dennis Aldridge sharply questioned the school board's planning. "I have asked for three years what the plan for the school system was because of the declining school population. The last meeting we had I was told that there was no plan," Aldridge said. He told school leaders the county has lost roughly $40 million in property valuation and pressed whether the county should consider approving an additional $2.8 million in funding — an increase Aldridge said he viewed as unrealistic under current circumstances.

Worrell told commissioners the district began the school year with a $1.2 million fund balance and has already cut seven certified positions and five noncertified positions. Edwards said certified staff reductions were done before May 1, and she cautioned that certified positions cannot be reduced after that date; Worrell said cutting 30 positions would be difficult.

Commissioners asked the Board of Education to return with a more conservative budget request between $0 and $2.8 million. No final appropriation or tax-rate decision was made at the workshop.

The discussion highlighted both immediate nutrition-program funding pressures and longer-term questions about aligning staff levels with declining average daily membership and reduced property valuations.