Superintendent to discuss school budget, funding cuts in Raleigh

SHELBY, N.C. — Cleveland County Schools’ superintendent will be among a group of state leaders discussing the impact of cuts to the education budget.

Dr. Bruce Boyles will meet with other school superintendents, State Board of Education members and legislators in Raleigh on Tuesday to talk about how local school districts are affected by cuts in federal funding and increases in state discretionary cuts.

Boyles said Cleveland County Schools has cut $17 million in discretionary reductions since the 2008-09 school year. Statewide, school districts are facing more than $400 million in cuts for the 2012-13 school year in areas including the central office, media and guidance departments as well as other clerical positions, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Tuesday’s meeting is supposed to facilitate dialogue about the budget and how leaders are handling the cuts locally.

“There's a benefit of being able to hear what other school districts are doing and being able to use some of their strategies,” Boyles said. “… We'll be looking to see if there are any ideas of things that me night not have done."

60 local positions unfunded from state cuts, federal funds

The CCS budget for the next school year doesn’t cut any jobs. That’s possible because many positions are left unfilled when employees retire or choose to leave the district, Boyles said.

North Carolina school districts also will be forced to cut $74 million on top of the $429 million required last year to meet required state discretionary reductions, according to NCDPI. Schools will also see a decrease in federal funding that helped pay for teaching positions.

Cleveland County Schools chose to add $2 million to its budget for next year to help offset 60 local positions that weren’t funded by state and local reductions. That money will come from the school system’s local fund.

Budgetary constraints also mean Cleveland County teachers haven’t received a pay raise in more than four years, Boyles said.

Teams from the state's eight education regions are scheduled to make presentations about the local impact of budget cuts during Tuesday’s event. State lawmakers were also invited to attend. Boyles said he hopes legislators will take advantage of the invite, so they can see how the budget is affecting school districts.

"We can no longer expect our school leaders, teachers and students to 'do more with less,'" said State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison in a NCDPI press release. "North Carolina schools have been cut to the bone.”

WSOC