CHCCS Year Starts: Faces Challenges of No State Budget

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools started a new school year on Tuesday. While the students returning brings challenges of its own, budgeting over the summer was a challenge with no new state budget.

North Carolina’s budget has been in a state of limbo since Governor Roy Cooper vetoed a proposal from Republican legislators in late June. The governor has objected over the lack of Medicaid expansion in the budget, while GOP lawmakers are refusing to negotiate the topic and have struggled to override the veto.

The dispute has left other parts of the budget in an unsure state, including school funding. Schools have not been able to implement pay raises for their staff, even raises approved by the previous state budget. The result has been a summer full of uncertainty when it comes to financial planning for this new school year.

CHCCS superintendent Pam Baldwin spoke recently with WCHL’s Aaron Keck on the matter. She said the lack of a state budget created a lot of “guesswork” as they determined funding.

“And that’s what makes it difficult,” said Baldwin. “We’re trying to anticipate salary increases, anticipate what we may get in our state funding and how we can balance that with what we actually need. So, it’s not really more work as much as it is a guessing game, which makes it more difficult.”

Baldwin said while most people assume school systems and its staff have it easier during the summer, CHCCS uses the time off to determine how to allocate funding and resources.

“Figuring out how to realign some of our local funding to ensure that we’re able to pay salaries and support our teachers with supplies and materials,” Baldwin said, “all of that work happens in the two months where people feel like we may not be doing anything. But it’s actually the busiest time of the year for us.”

While budget discussions have stalled over the last few weeks, the state House and Senate have voted on separate portions of their proposed budget plan. They approved the portion including raises for non-certified local school personnel.

Republicans have not yet rolled out a bill to address public school teacher raises. Saine said one will come out later. The GOP budget offered average 3.8% pay raises for teachers over two years. Cooper’s latest offer would provide 8.5% average raises over the same time.

It is unclear whether Cooper will sign or veto the so-called mini-budgets being approved by the General Assembly.

Photo via CHCCS