Mecklenburg’s budget could derail some funding for CMS. Here’s how we got to this point.

A county budget proposal to withhold $56 million from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools — all in a bid to bolster academic performance for disadvantaged students — has strongly divided community members and public officials.

The tug-of-war comes after Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio announced her budget recommendation last week, which says 11% of the funding earmarked for CMS must temporarily stay in restricted contingency.

To access that pot of money, according to Diorio, CMS needs to produce a strategic plan for county commissioners outlining how the district will close educational achievement gaps and boost college readiness for Black and brown students.

But there’s no guarantee county commissioners will be satisfied with any school board proposal and ultimately vote to release the money. The district, meanwhile, says it already has an equity plan and needs the full amount of funds they’ve requested so that students aren’t impacted.

During a budget public hearing Wednesday, some concerned parents and community advocates urged Diorio to change course. Defunding schools, they said, may only exacerbate inequities that existed long before the coronavirus pandemic. Others spoke in support, like the Black faith leaders who this week hosted a press conference praising the budget recommendation.

The back-and-forth budget discussions will continue through the month, with commissioners expected to vote on adopting the budget June 1.

Here is a glance at what’s happened and what to expect next:

How was the CMS budget created?

Work toward this year’s $1.77 billion CMS budget started back in the fall.

The district created cross-departmental teams and identified experts that worked on the budget with equity goals in mind, according to CMS board chair Elyse Dashew.

The average North Carolina school district gets about 65% of its operating revenue from the state, 25% from the county and the remaining 10% comes from the federal government.

In big urban districts like Mecklenburg, it’s common for the county allotment to increase. CMS has historically gotten a third of its funding each year from the county.

The district has stressed repeatedly that the budget was created with equity in mind and responds to students’ needs, especially in the light of the pandemic.

How much is the county giving CMS?

In fiscal year 2022, CMS would receive almost $532 million under Diorio’s proposal.

The $6.1 million increase would cover maintenance costs for new schools, 29 social workers, 10 psychologists, one social work coordinator, and a pilot project to create behavioral support centers for students serving in-school suspension, according to Mecklenburg’s budget book.

But of the county’s total appropriation to CMS, $56 million is not immediately headed to schools and hinges on the school district creating a performance plan for underachieving students.

Diorio says this “out-of-the box” funding strategy won’t directly affect classroom operations. In the long-term, it is meant to turn the corner for 42 low-performing schools, many of which are concentrated in marginalized communities in Mecklenburg’s crescent.

Why is there restricted funding?

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners “was clear that the status quo at CMS was unacceptable and that the community deserves better when it comes to educating our children,” Diorio said during her budget presentation last week.

“They charged me with thinking creatively as to how performance and funding can be linked,” she said. “This ... improves transparency and accountability in how county funds are used to improve students outcomes.”

The restricted funding includes $27.4 million for school leadership services, $11 million for financial and human resource services, $2.5 million for accountability and $15.1 million for policy, leadership and public relations, according to the proposed budget.

George Dunlap, chairman of the county commissioners, acknowledged Mecklenburg does not “control” CMS. Still, commissioners do get to decide how Mecklenburg taxpayer dollars are divvied up.

“We can say to anybody who receives county dollars, ‘These are the criteria you must meet to get them,’” Dunlap told his colleagues during a meeting Tuesday. “Everybody that we’ve talked about funding for this budget ... there are accountability measures in place for everybody but CMS.”

What do commissioners say?

Dunlap accused CMS of removing metrics from its equity goals. Now, the county needs to see new targets from CMS and a path for reaching them — before more funding is given.

The narrative that Mecklenburg doesn’t support educators is “really untrue,” County Commissioner Mark Jerrell said.

“Those of us that are proponents of this action, we would love to see a plan and release that money out of restricted contingency,” Jerrell told the Observer. “I do think I have to be responsible to my constituents — to say that your money is being used wisely and appropriately.”

Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell fiercely opposed the plan during Tuesday’s meeting: “I believe that with this restricted contingency move, we are not acting as true partners to solve a problem. Instead, we have created a scapegoat. This plan is punitive in nature.”

Rodriguez-McDowell’s remarks triggered a tense exchange with Diorio, who raised her voice before the meeting abruptly adjourned.

What do school officials say?

The superintendent harshly criticized the county’s budget proposal on Twitter last Thursday.

And at Tuesday’s CMS meeting, board member Jennifer De La Jara spoke out about the needs students have outside of school and asked what the county was doing to serve those needs.

Advocates and board members have shared the same line of thought publicly and in interviews with the Observer — that CMS is answering for the failings of systems that have been in place for decades.

“They are stubborn systems, and they are interconnected systems, and they are systems that the county commissioners are responsible for that impact students and student outcomes,” Dashew said. “I’m not making excuses. We all own a piece of it, and if we focus on that piece that is ours, we can really get something done.”

What about charter schools?

The county commissioners have also expressed some irritation at the lump sum that goes to charter schools each year from the district budget. This year, charter school growth of nearly 2,000 students calls for $7.6 million from CMS.

In North Carolina, local school districts have to pass along funding to charter schools at the average rate per pupil, depending on how many students attend from their respective county. So when those rates go up, so does charter funding.

Dashew stressed that the district’s hands are tied.

“It’s almost like they’re trying to hold CMS responsible for that, but we’re not. It’s law. We didn’t write that law, so that’s frustrating … and you know, we’re not crazy about that funding model either,” she said. “But if the charter pass-through is not funded ... we’ll have to cut something else.

“And there’s not much to be cut.”

How does the money get released?

CMS must present a strategic plan that includes goals, targets and timeframes and is designed to improve academic achievement for all students; realign their resources, via funding and staffing; and report back to the county board their status on those goals.

But CMS says its strategic plan addresses all of that — and that the county isn’t a school oversight board.

Created in 2019, the 2024 Strategic Plan lists five major components: commitments to equity and culture, goals for students by 2024, two core strategies to guide the district, specific tactics to reach their goals and targets to measure progress.

And though they acknowledge a long way to go, school officials say they’ve made headway.

“We’ve shared our strategic plan and our goals with them on a number of occasions now, so what I hope it isn’t is political theater,” Dashew said. “I think if I understood what they were asking for, we wouldn’t be in this position.”

How will CMS make up for the decreased funds?

Under North Carolina law, school districts cannot budget at a deficit — the assumption CMS might eventually get the money, like last year, isn’t enough. So the district now must plan to make up for the losses elsewhere.

Despite Diorio’s insistence that the withheld funds will not affect classrooms, Dashew pushed back in an interview with The Observer on Thursday.

“That’s just not accurate,” Dashew said. A big portion of the district’s budget is set aside for personnel. “We’re very lean, so ultimately, there’s just not much to cut that keeps the impact out of classrooms. There’s no way this wouldn’t impact students.”

CMS educator and parent Amanda Thompson-Rice says the move is self-contradicting and will affect the very students it aims to help. She said that high-performing schools with strong PTAs will find the funding elsewhere — but low-performing schools with students already at high risk might not.

“You can’t defund your way out of inequity,” she said.

Dashew said if the vote goes through, it would be “devastating” for students and staff.

“If what they vote on does not match up with what our students need for their basic education that we’re obligated to provide, then we will pursue avenues to make sure that our students have sufficient funding,” she said. “It’s all in statute, it’s all laid out in the law.”