Note: This is a developing story and may be updated as we receive more information.
This month, the New Hanover County Commissioners voted to approve the budget 3-2. Republicans Bill Rivenbark, Dane Scalise, and LeAnn Pierce were in favor; Democrats Stephanie Walker and Rob Zapple were not. Part of their reasoning for voting against the budget was major cuts to funding preschools worth $975,000, prompting the district to make some tough decisions.
New Hanover County Schools Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes gave the board seven options to pursue but endorsed only three of them with caveats. He asked the board and the public to reflect on those options before the upcoming July meeting where they would need a vote on which one to pursue.
The county’s decision means the schools could no longer fund 12 teachers and 108 classroom spots. Barnes said the commission reverted to their pre-pandemic funding levels. The funding formula is complex, in that NHCS receives money for preK from the state, county, and The Endowment.
As an aside to explaining the issues with the money for preschool, Barnes said there would also be difficult decisions to come from how they fund nurses and address chronic absenteeism because of these cuts.
Barnes said that in April 540 families were promised spots in NHCS pre-K and he’s hoping to find a way to keep those spots open for those families.
He also reminded the public that the district had to cut 300 staff members a year ago, which then impacts the schools’ culture, and with this loss it is difficult to minimize disruptions to students and staff, implying he wanted to avoid this with pre-K if possible.
He then outlined seven options to the board and then went through each to say what he thought of them.
The first was to stop preschool transportation to offset that county funding loss. He said he didn’t want to do this because it would impact those who are typically the most vulnerable.
The second option was to go back to the commission to reinstate the funds and the third was to ask The Endowment fill in the gaps. He said those were not viable for him because he was reluctant to look to others — and that the district needed to solve its own issues.
The fourth was to deplete their current fund balance of $1.6 million, which he didn’t want to do, either. The fifth one was to have families who don’t qualify for the program pay for spots, to offset the overall costs. He said he liked this option but it would be next year before it could be implemented, as it would take a lot of planning.
The sixth one would be to use Title I ‘carryover funds’ worth $530,000. Barnes said a portion of this money was not necessarily promised to these 21 schools, which are typically populated by families with low incomes, but administrators were under the impression that it “might be coming”. He said if their portion was diverted away, it would be equal to what they received last school year.
The final option was to close Mary Washington Howe and move the students to Johnson pre-K. The district would then sell the land and the building; Barnes mentioned a tax valuation of around $3.5 million, and put those funds back into fund balance. Chief Financial Officer Ashley Sutton said closing Howe would save the district $255,000 in terms of utility bills and losing positions through attrition.
Part of this solution for general consolidation would also include filling empty classrooms at some of the district’s elementary schools including Freeman, Blair, and Wrightsboro. Barnes said this would logistically take a while to come together but could ultimately lead the way to increasing the number of preschool spots since they expanded facility space.
He also said that over a four or five-year timeline his goal was to get back the loss of the federally funded Head Start grant.
He did say that while Howe is 2.5 miles away from Johnson — this would be an emotional decision for the board as families and staff are likely attached to the school community. He added that the board should consider renaming one of the other schools, Mary Washington Howe, to commemorate the contributions of the civil rights leader.
