GREENSBORO, N.C. — Many of you are interested in saving money, so we started by looking into how Guilford County Schools says they're saving money.
First, with bus drivers and transportation. In the proposed budget GCS wants to reduce their spending on transportation, but they want to increase bus driver pay.
At Wednesday's budget presentation, GCS Chief FInancial Officer explained why.
"Again for bus driver pay because we are still working very hard to try and recruit bus drivers in a time when all school districts across the state are experiencing a shortage there," said Guilford County Schools Chief Financial Officer, Angie Henry.
To recruit more bus drivers, the school systems says you have to pay them more.
School board member Linda Welborn asked how they plan to pay bus drivers more if they're cutting a million dollars from the transportation budget?
"Scott and his team are working with a consultant to do an evaluation of our transportation operation to focus right now on routing and what we think are low hanging fruit. But, you'll see if you look at the numbers that the million dollars we anticipate saving there we're going to reinvest in transportation and the bus drivers salaries," said Henry.
By changing routes and improving other inefficiencies, the school system hopes to save a million dollars from operating the transportation system, and instead use it for the people who make the system operate. Another example is their twilight high school program.
It's a program that works with kids who are close to graduation, but need different school hours. Right now it serves 63 students which sounds great... until you hear they're spending $750,000 on those 63 students. That's almost 12 grand a kid.
However, next year they plan to use three sites instead of one. So they'll use that same $750,000 dollars on at least 240 students, which bring that per-pupil spending down to $3,125.
Finally, it was rumored, but yesterday's budget presentation confirmed Hampton Elementary will no longer be a separate school.
However, school board member Byron Gladden wanted to make sure it was known that even without a school building Hampton families still care.
"We operate as one board for all children. I wanted to acknowledge the Hampton parents that couldn't be here, that didn't come out and make posters, that did not inundate us with emails because most of them don't have internet access and WiFi in their homes, in low-income high poverty housing, in their communities -- they wanted their school too," said Gladden.