CMS Pulls $6.3 Million Rabbit From Hat
Talk of snatching $6.3 million from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ budget to help fill an overall county shortfall of $36 million in current-year funding has been floating for weeks. Commissioners made it official last night, when they unanimously approved the mid-year budget reduction.
And despite recent howls that the fiscal correction would have dire consequence on CMS operations, schools chief Peter Gorman didn’t do his rhetoric any favors when he made the process look almost painless. No classroom cuts. No teacher layoffs. And certainly no reduction in force amidst the layers of top brass bureaucracy.
Instead, CMS pulled a monetary rabbit out of its hat, backfilling the $6.3 million gap with one-time money from two piles of loot: $4.7 million in proceeds due the district from the city’s now defunct red-light camera program; and $1.6 million due from the county in refunds from overpayments on rent and utilities CMS had paid for space it uses at Walton Plaza.
In that light, Commissioner Bill James questioned whether the $6.3 million cut was really, well, a $6.3 million cut, if the county was giving CMS $1.6 million of it only to have CMS turn around and hand it back.
“I know it’s listed as a $6.3-million reduction, but in effect it’s really $4.7 million,” James said.
Gorman bristled at that logic.
“That’s absolutely inaccurate,” he said. “Those are dollars that, if we would have had them previously, we would have put towards programs. Those are dollars we haven’t had, that we could have used to educate kids. It’s a reduction of $6.3 million.”
“It’s a reduction of $6.3 million,” James said, “but (county manager) Harry (Jones) is going to give you a check for $1.6 million, right?”
“He’ll give us a check for the $1.6 million, which is due back to the school district,” Gorman said, “and then we’ll write a check for $6.3 million.”
The one-time funds used to cover the $6.3 million hit were already slated in next year’s budget for programs that measure teacher effectiveness, Gorman said. Money to keep those programs on track will now have to be cut from other areas in next year’s budget, he said.
Gorman’s recommended budget for the coming fiscal year includes a worst-case scenario calling for cuts up to $79 million in overall funding, to include about $21 million in county funding. The district is currently bracing for layoffs of up to 1,000 employees, including about 600 teachers, along with an increase to class sizes, cuts to bus stops, and the elimination of some middle school athletic programs.
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