BURLINGTON, N.C. — Some staff members in the Alamance-Burlington School System are about to see some changes with their job.
This comes after the Board of Education unanimously approved budget cuts on Tuesday.
This new budget is for the upcoming school year, and interim superintendent Dr. Bill Harrison said it was a difficult decision.
Dr. Harrison said a lot of these issues fall back onto the state, saying it isn't meeting its constitutional obligation in helping school systems.
During the work session today, the school board said they will be asking county commissioners for an additional $10.4 million for employee compensation, technological services, salary, and retirement benefits, and charter school growth.
Dr. Harrison said, "this is a very difficult budget; all decisions were made carefully to demonstrate to the community and commissioners that ABSS is fiscally responsible." He stressed that every position is valuable to the district.
At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, ABSS had a fund balance of $7 million but spent $3.5 million of that to balance the budget.
At the end of the 2022-2023 year, ABSS used an additional $3.5 million to balance the budget again, leaving approximately $103,000 in the fund balance.
Currently, the district has a budget deficit of $3.5 million and is using $7.5 million in federal ESSER funding that ends in 2024. The school system said this is a situation faced by every school district across the state and nation. To get back on solid financial footing, ABSS said it must follow state allotment guidelines for staffing and cut a number of positions now paid with ESSER funds.
For next school year, the interim superintendent said North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is projecting that ABSS will have nearly 600 fewer students than the current enrollment; the equivalent of a loss of $4 million in allocation. The district said it's seeking more information from NCDPI about why this determination was made.
The board today approved a deficit reduction plan, which would include some positions being moved around.
The interim superintendent says as of right now, no one will lose their jobs totally if commissioners fund the $10.4 million needed.
ABSS said state funds provide between 65-68% of total district funding; federal funds account for about 10-15% of the total budget, and local funds provide the other 10-15% of funds. Nearly 90% of the ABSS budget is spent on personnel.
"Our budget is around 90% people. So if we have to come up with a substantial amount of money, then we're going to go deeper. But right now, if you guys pass this budget, if the commissioners give us $10.4 million, then the answer to that is no," said Dr. Harrison.
Dr. Harrison outlined how teachers are allotted by the state. ABSS said it is allotted 37 principals for next year with 38 schools. The district must use other funding sources to cover positions not allotted by the state. ABSS is allotted 22 assistant principals for next school year for 38 schools. The district also has to use other funding sources to ensure each school has an assistant principal as state funds are not sufficient, or “ridiculously low” as Dr. Harrison phrased it.
"For the School Health Personnel budget code that includes psychologists, nurses, counselors and social workers, the state allots 52 positions. ABSS currently has 112 positions in this category. ABSS also uses the Instructional Support funding code to pay for 53 additional 10-month positions, but is 25 positions over what the state allots for this critical student support. The state allotment for classroom materials/instructional supplies will be $687,000 for more than 21,000 students next year in ABSS. The At Risk Fund allotment provides $420,000 for SROs. ABSS spends in excess of $3 million for SROs annually and makes up the shortfall in state funding for SROs with local funds," ABSS said.
Librarians have the option to go back into the classroom and teach or manage both the middle and high school programs.
North Carolina Association of Educators President Robert Alvis says this will cause lots of issues across the district.
"Our librarian would be split between two schools. So, and that's just some of the effects, not even all of them. So it's a multitude of effects across a number of areas," Alvis said.
Dr. Harrison recommended the board approve a continuation budget to present to the commissioners in addition to an expansion budget proposal for a total local budget request of $59,170,941 for the 2024-2025 school year.
The board approved the deficit reduction plan, the budget proposal of $59.170.941 to take to the commissioners, and that payroll changes for employees losing months of employment would take effect July 1.
The interim superintendent said if the board gets the $10.4 million from commissioners, the school district is in good shape headed into the next school year.
The decision now heads to county commissioners.