House budget would fill several CMS gaps

A recently released N.C. House budget proposal would fill several gaps that had worried Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools – and could mean Mecklenburg County won’t have to spend as many tax dollars on the school district.

Those implications were a major topic of discussion as school board members sat down with Mecklenburg County commissioners Tuesday to begin hashing out a budget for the school district.

The meeting came a week after the school board approved a budget proposal that calls for $39.9 million in additional money from the county. But county commissioners were quick to ask whether the House proposal would mean they’d eventually be let off the hook.

The school district requested money from the county for 140 teaching assistant positions, as well as $2.6 million to fund driver’s education – both of which CMS had expected to be cut from state funding this year. Both appear in the House proposal.

CMS also asked for $9.8 million to give most teachers and staff a 2 percent pay raise. Again, this is worked into the state House’s budget.

“Are you going to revise this?” commissioner Bill James asked as the first question after Superintendent Ann Clark finished presenting the budget request.

Clark said since the district received the information only the day before, CMS was still going through it. The state Senate could have radically different ideas about education funding.

Clark has also pushed for money to allow rising third-graders who need extra reading help to attend summer literacy camps. Clark has repeatedly called literacy the district’s “North Star.” These proposals weren’t discussed Tuesday.

Mecklenburg County funds nearly one-third of the school district’s $1.4 billion budget. The county should vote on the budget next month.

Still, a joint meeting of the school board and county commissioners is relatively rare – and the county board took full advantage to ask pointed questions and criticize the school district.

About $8 million of the CMS budget increase request would go to the county’s charter schools, which are expecting significant enrollment growth. Commissioner Jim Puckett asked why the CMS request is so large while money going to charter schools is significantly smaller.

“It sounds to me the best thing would be to put half the kids in charter schools and cut the budget,” said Puckett, who has served on Lake Norman Charter School’s board in the past. He’s also a former school board member.

Commissioner Vilma Leak said low pay for custodians was perpetuating poverty, and said there is “a group of kids on West Boulevard that’s not getting the quality of education that’s necessary.”

Commissioner Matthew Ridenhour described “disgusting” conditions in a South Mecklenburg High locker room, and commissioner Pat Cotham said mobile classrooms at Reid Park Academy “couldn’t be more depressing.”

Commissioner Ella Scarborough suggested having high school students do custodial and maintenance work to improve conditions.

“It might be an excellent opportunity,” she said.

This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 10:26 AM with the headline "House budget would fill several CMS gaps."