Wake schools chief wants $40.3M more from county. But proposed budget comes with cuts
Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor is seeking a $40.3 million increase in local funding next year, even as he announced $18.7 million in budget cuts in areas such as instructional supplies, teaching positions and employee benefits.
Taylor unveiled on Tuesday a proposed budget for the 2025-26 school year that asks the Wake County Board of Commissioners to provide a 6% increase in funding. Taylor wants $742.9 million from commissioners for the district’s $2.3 billion operating budget.
“This budget is absolutely focused on fiscal responsibility as well as program continuity,” Taylor told the board.
The $18.7 million in “strategic repurposing” cuts come after the district announced this month a partial hiring freeze and restrictions on spending and out-of-state travel, The News & Observer previously reported.
School leaders emphasized the uncertain times the district is facing now with rising costs, loss of federal COVID aid, concerns about federal cuts and the need to open four new schools. They said they had identified $60 million in additional local needs this year that they couldn’t fully offset with an increase in county funding.
The school board will review the budget before voting on it and sending it to commissioners.
Wake County Manager David Ellis will recommend how much to fund the school district, and commissioners will vote on the budget in June.
‘Strategic repurposing’ cuts
Chief Business Officer David Neter unveiled a long list of budget cuts on Tuesday, including:
▪ Remove employer contributions for dental insurance effective January 2026. This would save $2.5 million.
▪ Remove building substitutes and replace with regular substitute pay. Wake has been paying for each school to have a full-time employee serve as a substitute to fill in for absent teachers.
▪ Remove additional school secretary positions in the high schools and revise the salary bands for clerical months of employment based on school size at the middle and high schools. Neter said there’s no impact on positions such as lead secretary, student information data manager, bookkeeper, registrar and receptionist.
▪ Reduce funding for Restart schools by $1 million.
▪ Adjust assistant principal formula by 100 students per tier at high schools. This means schools might not have as many assistant principals.
▪ Reduce instructional supply allotment to schools from $65.72 to $60.72.
▪ Redefine formula for counselor and social worker positions.
▪ No increase in the extra duty pay scale, which goes to people who perform extra duties such as coach athletic teams and serve as club advisors.
▪ A 10% reduction in non-personnel funding for magnet schools.
▪ Remove 10 digital learning coordinators.
▪ Reduce instructional supplies and materials by 20%.
▪ Remove five vacant certified nurse positions.
Neter said they would do everything they can to place employees whose jobs are being cut into different positions. He said the cuts came after months of reviewing the budget.
“We were working through what we felt was the least painful and least impactful repurposing,” Neter said. “It was not easy.”
How much can the county give?
The request for more funding could test the limits of how much the all-Democratic Board of Commissioners will increase funding.
Since the 2017-18 school year, local funding has risen by 63%, or an increase of more than $270 million a year. This includes increasing school funding by $58.3 million last year, which helped the district take steps such as raising the minimum salaries for school employees to $17.75 an hour.
Christina Cole, president of the Wake County chapter of the N.C. Association of Educators, urged the school board during public comments on Tuesday to ask commissioners for what the district needs.
“I will never stand up here and speak for ‘strategic repurposing,’” Cole said. “I hope you’ll do your part for the upcoming budget sessions.”
State-mandated increases
During December’s planning retreat, school administrators identified $60 million in local funding needs.
This includes covering a projected 3% state increase in teacher pay, state increases in benefits, increased charter school enrollment and the opening of four new schools. Districts turn over to charter schools local funding for students who come from their districts.
Wake is covering behavioral support positions such as social workers, counselors and psychologists that had been funded by COVID aid that’s now expired.
Neter said there’s no funding requests for new programs or services. There’s also no proposed local increases in employee pay beyond what they expect the state will require.
“This budget is presented in uncertain times,” Neter said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Wake schools chief wants $40.3M more from county. But proposed budget comes with cuts."
