An Education Special Feature
Kannapolis City Schools reports that they had to eliminate 20 positions for 2013-14 thanks to reductions in state spending on education.
Ellen Boyd, KCS’ director for community relations, reported the following cuts to NC Policy Watch:
We eliminated 20 positions due to cuts in state funding. The positions are specified below. Only one person lost a job due to the reductions. We absorbed the other cuts through attrition and transferring personnel among our schools. However, as you can see, the cuts are significant and affect the school and classroom levels.
–7 regular classroom teacher positions
–5 EC teaching positions
–1 ESL teaching position
–2 Literacy Coach positions
–1 Math Coach position
–1 Spanish teacher position
–2 Teacher Assistant positions
–1 Health & Wellness Coordinator position
–We cut $244,815 from our supply budget (72% of the supply budget)
–We closed our Alternative Program location to save $125,000. Our alternative program is now operating inside of our high school instead of having its own separate site.
While the debate rages on about whether or not North Carolina’s General Assembly actually dealt public education a financial punch in the gut with the 2013-15 budget, NC Policy Watch is keeping a running tally of education funding cuts that local school districts are coping with as they open up for the 2013-14 academic year.
The list below links to stories in local media that detail the funding cuts at the school district level. The information in these stories is subject to change. This list will be continually updated; if you have a report to add, please email [email protected].
| School District | Cuts |
|---|---|
| Alamance-Burlington | • 17 teaching positions lost; • 35 teacher assistant positions lost; • 2 assistant principal positions lost; • 3 directors lost; • 4 student-support psychologist positions lost; • $1.6 million in cuts for classroom supplies, technology and staff development —[The Times News] |
| Asheville City Schools | • 9.5 teacher assistant positions eliminated; —[Charlie Glazener, Executive Director for Community Relations, Asheville City Schools] |
| Brunswick County | • 19 teacher assistant positions lost; • Instructional supplies reduced by $48,407; planning to restore with local funds. However, the per pupil amount will likely decrease slightly because we have the same amount of funding and anticipate more students. —[Brunswick County School Officials] |
| Buncombe County | • 24 teacher assistants lost; • Teacher assistants who remain will face reduced hours and days on the job. —[Black Mountain News] |
| Burke County | • 1.35 million budget reduction; • 43.5 teaching positions eliminated; • 2 instructional support positions eliminated —[The News Herald] |
| Cabarrus County | • In May, the system laid off 129 teacher assistant positions; they have been able to restore only 22, resulting in a loss of 107 teacher assistants. —[The Hickory Record] |
| Caldwell County | • 43 teaching positions lost; • 30 teacher assistant positions lost; • 2 instructional support positions lost; • Class sizes will increase from 1 to 3 students per class; • Funding for textbooks was cut by 77 percent. a $634,000 reduction; • Funding for instructional supplies was cut by 51 percent, a reduction of $374,000 —[The News-Topic] |
| Camden County | • Camden will lose funding for six teaching positions and four teacher assistant positions; • Superintendent Hawkins said he plans to fund his district’s teaching and teacher assistant positions that the state will not be paying for this year. —[The Daily Advance] |
| Charlotte-Mecklenberg | • 220 teacher assistant positions lost; • Reduced hours and days for teacher assistants; • Reduction for instructional supplies —[CMS 2013-14 Budget Report] |
| Cleveland County | • 50-60 teaching positions will likely be eliminated; • 30 teacher assistant positions eliminated; • Dozens of teacher assistants should expect reduced hours. —[Shelby Star] |
| Clinton City Schools | • 10 teacher positions lost; • $238k reduction in teacher assistant funding; and • 51% reduction in funding for instructional supplies. • The Clinton City Board of Education has not yet decided if local funds can plug some of the holes. —[The Sampson Independent] |
| Craven County | • 5 teacher assistants will be laid off; • Additional 19 percent funding reduction for jobs next year and a spending freeze on all teacher assistant positions —[WCTI12.com] |
| Cumberland County | • 111 teacher assistant positions cut; • $230,000 cut for instructional supplies. —[Fayetteville Observer] |
| Edenton-Chowan Schools | • Facing a reduction in state funding of $831,385; • May cut as many as 8½ teaching positions; • May cut 8 teacher assistant positions; • Also faces a 50 percent reduction in funding of classroom materials — it received $132,631 last year, versus $64,926 this year; • 78 percent reduction in funding of textbooks. —[The Daily Advance] |
| Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools | • 19.5 teaching positions cut; • 14 teacher assistant positions cut; • One instructional support position cut; • $4,000 in funds used for the English as a Second Language program cut for 2013-14. —[The Daily Advance] |
| Franklin County | • 23 teacher assistant positions eliminated through attrition over past 5 years; • Cuts to instructional supplies and other areas TBD —Franklin County Schools |
| Gaston County | • 50 teacher assistant positions eliminated, on top of 50 teacher assistant positions cut last year; • 31 of those positions were actual layoffs;19 others were moved to disadvantaged schools thanks to the availability of federal funds earmarked for those schools • It is possible that seven TAs will be rehired at the start of the school year. —[Gaston Gazette] |
| Granville County | • 4 administrative positions eliminated; • 15 instructional support positions eliminated; • 4 classroom teacher positions eliminated, but services maintained through other means; and • 4 classroom teacher positions planned but not filled. —[Stan Winborne, Granville County Schools] |
| Guilford County | • Increased class size by .25 = a reduction of 37 teaching positions; • Eliminated $5.1 million in funding schools use for tutoring /instructional supplies/professional development/summer programs; • Eliminated mentor pay for teachers serving as mentors of first year teachers; • Eliminated seven middle school literacy facilitator positions; and • Reduced days of employment for teacher assistants and other paraprofessionals by 2.5 days. —[Angela Henry, CFO, Guilford County Schools] |
| Hickory Public Schools | • Eliminated 12 teacher assistant positions; • Eliminated 2 administrative services clerical positions; • Froze 1 vacant position in the technology department; • Eliminated 1 school clerical position; • Reduced months of employment for grounds keeper maintenance position; • Eliminated 2 data manager positions, Southwest and Longview to share position and Oakwood and HCAM to share position; • Teacher assistants to work student instructional days only; • Eliminated one-half social worker position at HCAM; • Eliminated 1.5 ESL positions; • Eliminated 0.5 ESL interpreter position; • Eliminated administrative curriculum coach at HCAM; • Eliminated part-time administrative services curriculum coach; and • Reduced instructional supply allotments. —[Beverly Snowden, Public Information Officer, Hickory Public Schools] |
| Iredell-Statesville Schools | • 40 teaching positions eliminated; • 60 teacher assistant positions eliminated. —[Hickory Daily Record] |
| Kannapolis City Schools | • Cut 7 regular classroom teacher positions; • Cut 5 EC teaching positions; • Cut 1 ESL teaching position; • Cut 2 literacy coach positions; • Cut 1 math coach position; • Cut 1 Spanish teacher position; • Cut 2 teacher assistant positions; • Cut 1 health & wellness coordinator position; • Cut $244,815 from their supply budget (72% of the supply budget); • Closed their Alternative Program location to save $125,000. Our alternative program is now operating inside of our high school instead of having its own separate site. —[Ellen Boyd, Director of Community Relations for Kannapolis City Schools] |
| Nash-Rocky Mount Schools | • 40 teacher assistant positions eliminated. —[Rocky Mount Telegram] |
| New Hanover County | • State funds for 54 teaching positions cut; positions saved for 2013-14 w/ local funds, but will be lost through attrition in 2014-15; • State funds for 22 teacher assistant positions cut; positions saved for 2013-14 w/ local funds, but will be lost through attrition in 2014-15. —[Mary Hazel Small, CFO for New Hanover County Schools] |
| Onslow County | • 169 positions will not be funded for teachers, teacher assistants and instructional support. —[WITN.com] |
| Perquimans County | • 6.5 teaching positions lost; • 5 teacher assistants lost; • Funding of classroom materials cut to $52,548. Perquimans had been planning on receiving about $107,000, based on student enrollment projections for the upcoming year; • Textbook funding will also be reduced to $26,000. —[The Daily Advance] |
| Randolph County | • All teacher assistants will take a 6% reduction in salaries next year; • The county will also use remaining textbook funding to try to cover remediation and staff development; • Instructional supplies will take a hit. —[The Courier-Tribune] |
| Roanoke Rapids Graded School District | • 12 teaching positions eliminated. —[The Daily Herald] |
| Rowan-Salisbury Schools | • 88 positions eliminated; • 50 teaching positions cut; • 17 teacher assistant positions cut; • Class size formula increased by one student; • $400,000 cut to instructional supplies. —[Salisbury Post] |
| Scotland County | • 45 teacher assistant positions eliminated, including 25 layoffs; • All TAs will see their salaries reduced to 82 percent of what they would normally receive; • Other bookkeeping, custodial and finance positions will be eliminated. —[The Laurinburg Exchange] |
| Stanly County | • Teacher assistants' hours will be cut by 30 minutes each day; • Four teacher assistant positions will be eliminated; • One custodial position and one receptionist position will be eliminated; • Textbooks will be reduced by $75,000. —[The Stanly News and Press] |
| Surry County | • 10.5 teacher assistant positions eliminated; • 13 teaching positions eliminated; • Class size increases are taking a toll on teachers; • More than 100 instructional positions lost over the past five years thanks to budget cuts. —[Travis Reeves, Surry County Schools Superintendent] |
| Vance County | • Cut teaching positions by eight positions; • Cut teacher assistant positions by 12 positions; • No layoffs have occurred; through attrition the teacher assistants have been placed in other positions; we simply did not fill eight vacant teaching positions; • We were cut $572,643 in state funds for teaching positions; • We were cut $468,134 in state funds for teacher assistant positions; • We were cut $105,212 in state funds for instructional support positions (placed in other positions, i.e., assistant principals/lead teachers) • We were cut $32,395 in state funds for classroom materials; and • Our total state budget cuts from last year to the new school year totaled $333,25. —[Terri Hedrick, PIO for Vance County Schools] |
| Wilkes County | • 8 teaching positions cut • 7 teacher assistant positions cut; • 3 media assistant positions cut; and • 1.5 central office positions cut. —[Wilkes Journal-Patriot] |
