New Hanover Schools preparing for more than $5 million budget shortfall

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Last month, New Hanover County Commissioners cut around $975,000 for pre-k classrooms as part of their new budget.

But there are even more cuts possibly coming shortly.

“It’s hard for us to focus on kids when we’re worried about making sure we’ll be able to fund our schools and fund our staffing the way we do,” Superintendent Christopher Barnes said.

The school board met on Tuesday to try and deal with some of those cuts.

Barnes said the State Department of Public Instruction supports districts with local supplement support.

New Hanover County Schools was getting more than $2 million of that, but is no longer eligible for it due to the county’s reassessment of property values earlier this year.

Meanwhile, New Hanover County Schools said they were recently told the federal government was planning to withhold funding in several areas, including the beginning teacher support program and the district’s migrant education program.

Board member Pat Bradford said she believes the federal government will not abandon them.

“They did not do this without a plan,” Bradford said. “They just haven’t told us what the plan is yet. Former Congressman Dan Bishop is the number 2 person at OMB. He will not leave our state hanging like that.”

In total, more than $5 million could be cut, but board member Tim Merrick said the shortfall is even more than that, due to other cuts commissioners made to the county’s overall budget.

“I’d like to say it’s probably closer to 6.2,” Merrick said. “What’s not being brought into the conversation right now is the loss of nurses, right? And you know, we’re talking about 14 nurses, and I’m just ballparking here, maybe $1.2 million and maybe more.”

“The concern for us, here at the ground level, with supporting schools is that 83% of all of our budget comes from people,” Barnes said. “It’s salaries and benefits.”

“I think it’s gonna be bumpy, I think we’re gonna have to learn to do less with less,” Bradford said.

Already, board members have voted on funding pre-k classrooms, utilizing leftover federal funds from last year.

“We’re looking for ways to make sure that we can adjust our budget to maintain our current staffing patterns and support kids the way we are,” Barnes said.

But Barnes said the district can’t lower its staff anymore without directly impacting students and the levels of education they would get.