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School leaders urge county to approve 3% funding increase as pre-K shifts proposed to secure state reimbursements
Summary
District leaders told a joint committee they balanced next year’s budget largely on one-time funds, asked the county for a 3% ($~3.1M) increase to cover salary and benefit inflation, and proposed temporarily shifting two pre-K classrooms to capture about $178,000 in NC Pre‑K reimbursements while protecting enrolled children.
New Hanover County Schools officials told a joint county-school committee that the district has balanced a preliminary budget but is relying on one-time funds and carryovers, and that it needs a 3% increase from the county to avoid cutting student-facing staff.
Dr. Barnes, presenting staffing and budget analysis, walked the committee through a staff-cost exercise to show how salary plus benefits change the district’s actual expense for positions. "For us to invest in that employee, it's $86,065," Barnes said, using the example of an average plumber’s salary plus health insurance, Social Security and a retirement contribution. Barnes added that "a million dollars only gets you 11" teachers once benefits and other costs are included, a framing officials said should shape requests for additional county support.
To reduce recurring pressures, the district proposed a temporary shift of two pre-K classrooms (one each from Blair and Murrayville) to certified NC Pre‑K sites so the district can bill NC Pre‑K and recover roughly half the cost of those classrooms, an estimate officials pegged at about $178,000. "We're moving classrooms, not kids," Barnes said, stressing the change is intended to preserve slots for currently enrolled children.
District staff said Title I carryover money has been used to preserve pre‑K slots; officials told the committee the district lost about 800 students this past year, roughly 700 of them low‑income, which will reduce next year’s Title I allocations and make continued reliance on carryover less sustainable.
The presentation included a breakdown of additional priorities that are not in the base budget but would be first uses for any new county dollars: three assistant principals, a modest reclassification bump for special‑education teacher assistants, and supplemental pay for occupational and physical therapists. Staff provided an aggregate figure of about $534,000 for those three recurring items, and said the larger $913,000 line under discussion includes other recurring needs the district would prioritize if county funding allows.
Officials said the proposed operating budget, as presented to the committee, contains no new initiatives beyond inflationary and contractual increases; it assumes the district will preserve the current count of 540 pre‑K slots through a mix of Title I carryover and the classroom recertification strategy.
Next steps: the budget will be presented for board approval at the board’s agenda meeting on May 5, and county-level action on the 3% request remains pending. District leaders urged county decision-makers to consider the recurring nature of the needs before making final allocations.
