Share
Mecklenburg County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will consider whether to consolidate some of their services, including human resources, television production and building maintenance, officials said Tuesday.
The county and school system also plan to look at merging food purchasing, and management and maintenance of athletic facilities.
The studies will take place during the budget year that starts in July, according to a joint statement from County Manager Harry Jones and CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman.
There is no guarantee that all of the mergers will take place, and no clear timetable on when any could be implemented. Jones noted that a recent merger of the city and county's fleet management took nearly one year to develop.
News of the merger studies came during a joint meeting of county commissioners and the school board. Leaders from both boards have talked of wanting to consolidate some of their services as a way to help save money. CMS' TV station has been a frequent target of some who criticize how the district spends its money.
Also Tuesday, the boards talked about their proposed budgets for 2009-10. The school system has recommended that it receive flat funding, or $351.4 million from the county next year.
But Jones' recommended budget would cut $34 million from the district.
Gorman also told the boards that the budget proposal from a state House subcommittee could mean a $70 million cut for the district – more than twice what leaders had anticipated.
While there were some direct questions about teacher layoffs and the impact of the state cuts, a lot of the talk ventured into philosophical discussions about school funding – including whether the district should fund prekindergarten programs and efforts to close achievement gap.
Some commissioners have said they want to give more money to schools. In a related vote Tuesday, the Charlotte City Council agreed to give $4.7 million to CMS, money due the schools from the old SafeLight and SafeSpeed traffic camera program.
