JULY 30, 2009 ISSUE
Back to School, But Not Back to Normal
State Budget Cuts Affect Watauga County Schools
In the upcoming weeks, High Country Press will do its best to discuss various aspects of the changing climate for the upcoming school year, brought about by budget cuts statewide.
Significant budget cuts in response to North Carolina’s state budget deficit of $4.6 billion have brought about a changed picture for the upcoming school year.
Two buses will be taken out of service this year and bus routes will undergo changes to eliminate an estimated 284 miles every day. About 75 school personnel have been let go and the kindergarten cutoff age has been moved up, so many prospective students will be waiting another year to begin school.
Bus Route Reductions
The school system faces an expected reduction in transportation funding of 7.5 percent, or about $80,000, plus a reduction of about $31,500 in a separate allotment for bus fuel.
Watauga County Schools’ 46 school buses transported about 2,000 students daily during the 2008-09 school year. After the new routes are implemented, 44 buses will transport the same number of students.
The specific changes will include ending bus service on side roads unless a student living on the road is in third grade or below; combining stops located close together when this does not compromise student safety; ending “convenience” stops, such as dropping off students near a parent’s workplace or delivering them to childcare services; and ending service for most out-of-district students. Only out-of- district students who are currently riding the bus and who live in one of the out-of-county areas approved for tuition-free enrollment will continue to receive bus service, and these students will be required to meet the bus at the closest existing stop. In addition, bus service will be ended for students living within .5-mile of Blowing Rock School, Hardin Park School and Watauga High School.
One extra service that will continue is transporting students from the elementary schools to Watauga High School for sports.
“We will have to reduce total miles traveled by about 284 miles every day to stay within the budget next year,” said Watauga County Schools Transportation Director Toni Weaver Floyd. “To do that, we will have to discontinue non-essential transportation we have been providing for some students. The changes will include ending all stops other than those required to pick up and return students within reasonable walking distance of their homes.”
The level of school bus service available to local students will continue to meet or exceed all standards established by the Watauga County Board of Education and the State Board of Education.
Parents are asked to fill out and turn in new bus assignment forms by Thursday, July 30. Bus assignment forms will help determine the most effective routes for the upcoming school year and are available at school offices or on the Transportation Department page of the Watauga County Schools website. Forms can be returned to the school office or faxed to 828-266-9694. For forms, click to www.watauga.k12.nc.us.
Details of the new bus routes will be available at school offices and from the Watauga County Schools Transportation Department at 828-264-7190 by Saturday, August 1.
School Employee Reductions and Kindergarten Age Eligibility Change
Watauga County Schools had approximately 675 full-time employees in the 2008-09 school year. The upcoming school year will begin with 75 fewer positions, including 25 fewer full-time teaching assistants. Two part-time teaching assistant positions have also been eliminated.
Of the 25 teaching assistant positions being lost, 21 are the result of the state budget shortfall and four are the result of the change in kindergarten age eligibility. Effective for the 2009-10 school year, kindergarten students must be five years old by August 31 instead of October 10. The earlier cut-off date reduced this year’s kindergarten enrollment and the state reduced funding for kindergarten teachers and teacher assistants accordingly.
The total reduction in state funding for teaching assistant positions in Watauga County Schools totals approximately $650,000. Local funding from Watauga County helps support teaching assistant positions, and this funding has also been reduced for the current school year, though by a much smaller amount than state funds.
The North Carolina General Assembly plans on cutting 4,663 teacher assistants statewide to reduce education funding by $130 million. The state based the amount of the reduction on eliminating funding for third grade teaching assistants, but local systems have flexibility in which teaching assistant positions to cut. The cuts and transfers of local teaching assistants are being made according to the guidelines of the Watauga County Schools Reduction in Force (RIF) policy.
The total reduction in state education funding for 2009-10 may exceed $1 billion. These cuts will require scaling back nearly every aspect of school operations in districts across the state, including reductions in teaching positions, assistant principals, school counselors, school social workers, central office personnel, media specialists (formerly known as school librarians), school-based office and custodial personnel and school bus transportation. The budget would also eliminate all state funding for school capital projects and training of school personnel, and would impose significant reductions in funds for tutoring, textbooks, school supplies, More at Four pre-kindergarten classes and other areas.
The adoption of a state budget will be required before local schools can confirm whether further reductions in personnel may be required or whether some positions that have been eliminated could be restored.
For more information, call 828-264-7190 or click to www.watauga.k12.nc.us.
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