Wake school system wants $28 million more from county to help rebound from COVID

Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore is calling for a $28.2 million local funding increase this year that she says will help the school district move past the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moore unveiled Tuesday a proposed $1.9 billion operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year that includes $16.3 million in new county funding. She also wants Wake County commissioners to make permanent the $11.9 million increase it provided last year using non-recurring, one-time funding.

Moore said North Carolina’s largest school district needs the additional money to help continue its mission of educating students post pandemic.

The budget request comes during a year when the school district shrank in enrollment for the first time in nearly 40 years, dropping by 4,234 students. But school leaders say they expect most of those students to return now that Wake expects to be offering daily in-person instruction this fall for all students who want that option.

Wake has operated in a mostly online school environment for much of the school year due to COVID-19 concerns. I wasn’t until this week that middle schools and high schools joined elementary schools in offering full-time, daily, in-person instruction to all grade levels.

Wake has received federal COVID relief over the past year for things such as purchasing computers to give to students to learn from home and acquiring PPE and cleaning supplies for schools. Wake is due to receive another $96 million in federal school aid.

Moore said they want to use the COVID money to cover services over a longer period of time instead of using it all on immediate needs. She said this would reduce the need to cut services and personnel when the COVID funding ends.

Moore said they’re cushioning the impact of the funding increase by using $20 million from the district’s reserves to balance the budget.

The new budget could be a hard sell to county commissioners, who are dealing with their own COVID related budget issues.

Last year, the school board asked for a $29.9 million budget increase from the county. Commissioners approved a $11.9 million increase using one-time money, meaning there’s no guarantee that it will be provided again.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.