CHAPEL HILL – As the Orange County Commissioners and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education work-out their budget issues with in the county —the state Senate also released its proposed $20.6 billion budget this week.

“We had a pretty depressing weekend in terms of budget recommendations. First, the county manager’s budget came out on Friday and then on Sunday, the state Senate’s version of the budget was posted,” said Todd LoFrese, CHCCS assistant superintendent.

He says that the state senate’s budget proposal eliminates the discretionary reduction— LoFrese explains the discretionary reduction is a cut of the funding the districts were expected to return as a cost-saving measure for the state.

LoFrese says the understanding was that it was a temporary measure until the economy recovered. Now, he says the Senate has proposed to eliminate the discretionary reduction with out restoring the some of the funds to the school systems.

He says that loss in funds represents over 50 school positions for the school system.

And LoFrese says there are other funding cuts that concern him as well.

“It reduced support for ESL students, it reduced the funding for instructional supplies, it delays the replacement for school buses—the list just goes on and on,” he said.

The budget plan also calls cuts $142 million in teacher assistants funding. Lofrese says it will eliminate $1.3 million which equates to about 37 teachers. Funding cuts were also proposed to instructional support positions, like counselors, as well as the elimination of pay differentials for teachers with advance degrees.

Chair of the Orange County Commissioners Barry Jacobs says the board is aware of the problems that state’s budget cuts could cause for the district.

“The state is doing as much as it can to wound and dismantle public education in the name of trying to improve it,” Jacobs said.

“There are going to be all sorts of intended and unintended consequences of their actions.”

Orange County Town Manager Frank Clifton will present his budget proposal for OrangeCounty when the BoC meets at  7 p.m. Tuesday at the Southern Human Service Center on Homestead Road. Public comment sessions will follow in the coming months.

To read Clifton’s budget proposal for Orange County, click here.

“It’s like in Star Wars when Princess Leia said to Obi-Won-Kenobi ‘You are our last hope’—the commissioners do realize that we are the district’s last hope,” Jacobs said.

Follow the links to see the senate’s budget bill and associated money report.

Click here to see Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposed budget.

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