Lewis: WCPS will have balanced budget, but needs more funding from county

Wayne County Public Schools is going to need up to an additional $1.7 million from the county to maintain its current level of services to students, officials told the Board of Education during its budget planning session Tuesday.

The district is also looking at a way to keep some of the first- and second-year beginning teachers it was forced to cut due to budget concerns and how to handle a projected increase in benefit costs and salaries next year.

But the challenge will be, interim superintendent Dr. David Lewis said, uncertainty over available funding and another projected decrease in enrollment.

While all the cuts have been factored in, and the work done to get the county schools’ accounts in order, Lewis said that the best way to make sure student and staff needs are met is to get rid of the $3 million debt to the School Nutrition Fund and the $2 million loan from the state as quickly as possible.

“The sooner we get rid of the second one, the sooner we can do a better job on the first one,” he said.

Last month, Lewis and board chairman Chris West announced that the district has been able to retire more than $1 million of that obligation — some from the “found money” in the district’s self-insured dental fund as well as a savings-based budgeted monthly payment.

Lewis said the district has already factored in the “staff balancing” measures recommended by an independent auditor as well as a financial consultant, and created a formula moving forward to keep staffing aligned with the state allotment, which is being cited as the cause of the district’s overspending problem.

But even with the position cuts and larger class sizes that were recommended by then-acting superintendent Dr. James Merrill last year, Lewis said the district will not know exactly what its financial situation will be — or its needs — until the final numbers are in for the state, federal and local funding.

“To say that this is THE budget is an overstatement,” Lewis told the board.

And one of the factors that will play heavily into that state number is the student count — Average Daily Membership.

Lewis said the district is estimating that there will be 17,469 students next year — and is basing its budget projections on that number.

The state has projected 17,933.

If the state projects a higher student count, and a budget is based on those figures and the count comes in lower, the difference has to be returned, Lewis said.

“(Therefore), is that much more important for us to look at our historical enrollment,” he said.

Lewis added that the district’s ADM has been steadily declining over the last few years — and is influenced also by loss of students to local charter schools.

When they switch to those schools, their funding dollars go with them.

“We have planned strategically so we don’t have to return positions or funds next year,” Lewis said.

Also influencing the district’s staffing decisions are under-allotments for assistant principals and instructional assistants, which are determined by a state formula.

Many Wayne County schools are not big enough to hit the 900-student threshold necessary for those allotments.

Those positions, therefore, Lewis said, have to be covered by local funds — or eliminated.

The overstaffing that was not covered in the state allotment has been eliminated, he said, adding that the district had not been adjusting position counts incrementally to stay in line with the state funding.

“We had to take a big swing at it to get us back in line,” Lewis said.

That meant telling first- and second-year beginning teachers that they would not be returning next year and would have reapply to work in Wayne County should positions become available.

Lewis said the district is looking at several funding sources that could be used to allow the rehiring of more of them, but added that the investigation into the matter has only just begun.

The interim superintendent went on to say that rehiring as many first- and second-year beginning teachers as possible would benefit the district as more and more experienced teachers retire or move to other districts.

Chief finance officer Leslie Rouse said the schools are looking very closely at a number of factors — not the least of which is a projected increase in benefit costs as well as an anticipated 2-percent increase for classified and certified personnel.

A salary increase would also affect supplement costs, she added.

“The state has not passed a budget,” she said.

Knowing what the numbers will be from the county is also vital to the final version of the budget, Rouse said. The money from the county commissioners is not the only factor, she added. Sales tax revenue and fines and forfeitures also contribute to that final total.

“We rely heavily on local sources of revenue, and we do not know yet if COVID will continue to affect these categories,” Rouse said.

West said that the district’s need for more funds from the commissioners is in part due to the increases in operational costs as well as deferred maintenance and other factors that are influencing the available revenues this coming school year.

“Am I right … they have not helped us with ongoing operational expenses (in the past)?” West asked Lewis and Rouse, who confirmed the statement.

Lewis said the district is still working to make sure the numbers balance and that the expenses will be covered, with some changes expected as the final numbers come in.

But there is one factor that Lewis said will be an absolute.

“We will have a balanced budget,” he said.

The school board will be taking the next week to go through the budget proposal and will vote on its implementation at its next regular meeting May 3.

Before then, board members will make the proposal available to the community on its website, and is hoping residents will review it and communicate any suggestions to them by April 16.

“We really want to hear your input,” board member Jennifer Strickland said.

The final version of the budget is due to the commissioners May 15.