North Carolina’s Superintendent Mo Green is linking the $46 million budget shortfall in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to the state’s underfunding of public education.
During a presentation Wednesday night on the state’s new strategic plan, Green noted that North Carolina ranks 48th in the nation for education spending, spending thousands less per student than neighbors like Virginia and South Carolina.
When adjusted for regional cost differences, North Carolina ranks 48th in the nation for per-student spending, falling nearly $5,000 below the national average, and 49th in “funding effort,” a measure of how much a state spends on education relative to its economic capacity.
State Superintendent Mo Green discusses academic gains during a meeting of the State Board of Education. (Screengrab: NCDPI video stream)“While I think there was certainly mismanagement of resources in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools,” Green said, “it also is the case that it’s operated in a situation where we are underfunding our public schools pretty dramatically.”
The district’s financial turmoil has led to hundreds of job cuts this year, with assistant principals, support staff and employees in the Exceptional Children’s program among those affected.
A state audit report released in August found the district used temporary COVID-19 relief funds to pay permanent salaries, approved spending without money in the budget and delayed basic account reconciliations. Auditors also flagged misuse of “suspense accounts,” where at one point more than $332 million sat without clear tracking.
While auditors found no fraud, state leaders said the report revealed years of weak oversight. Earlier this month, the State Board of Education ordered a new outside audit of the district and imposed a 0.4% monthly interest rate on $3.4 million the district owes the state.
Still, Green stressed that despite financial strain, the district must keep moving forward with improvements.
“Our students can’t wait,” he said. “It’s not like we can tell our students sit tight into fourth grade till we get this figured out in Winston-Salem/Forsyth.”
Green made the comments while speaking at a forum organized by the advocacy group Public Schools First NC.
“Even as you have to make adjustments, continue to remember what the ultimate goal is,” Green added.
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