Wake County Schools plans to make significant budget cuts next school year, while also requesting an increase of $40.3 million in local funding from the Wake County Board of Commissioners.
At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Wake County Schools’ Superintendent Robert Taylor unveiled his $2.28 billion proposed operating budget for the 2025-2026 school year.
“We want to share with our public that everything that we’ve done in this budget is about reducing the impact on our schools so that we can ensure that quality education continues,” Taylor said.
Taylor recommended the school board request a total county appropriation of $742.9 million from the Wake County Board of Commissioners, a 5.7% increase in local funding compared to the current year’s budget.
Chief Business Officer David Neter presented the superintendent’s proposed budget, saying it came after “professional, but heated” discussions among district administrators.
“Gnashing of teeth comes to mind, working through what we felt would be the least painful and least impactful repurposing,” Neter said. “One of the reasons it was so difficult is effectively 90% of our budget goes directly to the schools.”
Read the superintendent’s full budget proposal here.
See David Neter’s school board presentation slides here.
Increased needs for local funding
School administrators have identified major local funding needs to:
- Open 4 new schools — Bowling Road Elementary, Pleasant Plains Elementary, Rex Road Elementary, Felton Grove High School.
- Fund anticipated increases to employee compensation and benefits that may be legislated by state lawmakers in the next state budget.
- Fund increases to charter schools in Wake County, which receive their local funding as a pass-through from county funding to Wake County Schools.
- Maintain locally paid Master’s Pay for instructional staff and a 3% increase to the locally funded teacher salary supplement.
- Maintain social workers, counselors, and school psychologists that were partially funded by pandemic funds.
Proposed budget cuts
Neter referred to “strategic repurposing” in the budget to meet those needs. His presentation cited nearly $19 million in budget cuts. Some of those include:
- Remove the employer contribution to employees’ dental care, starting in Jan 2026.
- Remove “building subs” — substitute teachers stationed long-term at specific buildings — that were implemented during the pandemic. The district would return to regular substitute pay.
- Remove positions that are currently vacant for the director of school choice, senior administrator for talent acquisition, one assistant superintendent, five certified nurses.
- Remove 10 digital learning coordinators, district support staff who help teachers integrate technology in their classrooms.
- Redefine formulas for the ratios of assistant principals, counselors and social workers.
The school district will also likely need to spend about half of its reserve funds, or $19.7 million to balance the proposed budget.
“This budget is presented in uncertain times,” Neter said. “Federal funding makes up a significant portion of both the state budget as well as the county budget.”
Neter said any possible reductions in federal funding to the state and county budgets could have a “trickle effect” on Wake County Schools. Additionally, the school system must manage uncertainty about the next state budget that lawmakers are negotiating this legislative session.
Wake NCAE’s reaction and next steps
The Wake North Carolina Association of Educators’ President Christina Cole spoke out against the budget during the school board’s public comment.
Wake County Board of Education meeting materials
“As the local union president, I will never stand up here and speak for ‘strategic repurposing,’” Cole said. “Despite federal implications and budget shortfalls, I hope district leadership and the school board will at least ask for what we need.”
Cole said Wake NCAE members would show up at County Board of Commissioners meetings to support a budget that fully funds the district’s current staffing levels, address facilities issues with HVAC, and fund school libraries.
The Wake County School board’s finance committee is expected to discuss potential budget cuts at its next meeting on March 25. The school board will continue budget deliberations and public hearings on the budget this spring, leading up to a presentation of a final budget request to the county commission on May 15.
