The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners officially adopted its 2010-2011 fiscal year budget, which included $112.3 million in funding for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, during a special meeting on May 27. The $112.3 million represents a $2.7 million increase over the school budget originally proposed by County Manager Dudley Watts, but substantially less than the $3.9 million requested by the school system.
The commissioners unanimously agreed to take $1.9 million from the Dell refund money and the other $800,000 from its general fund balance and earmark it for schools. The adopted budget stipulates that the $2.7 million is a one-time appropriation and future funding for the school system will be based on a funding formula based on academic performance.
School officials are required make a presentation to the board of test scores and a strategic plan to improve student performance. The adopted budget did not raise taxes, holding the county tax rate at 67.4 cents per $100 valuation. Commissioner Gloria Whisenhunt cautioned board members that tying school funding to academic performance could be problematic.
“It sounds good to say we’ll have a performance formula but what if the kids do surprise everybody and soar to the top?” Whisenhunt asked. “Are they as a board prepared to raise taxes to pay for it?”
Tripp Jeffers, president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators, said the school system is looking at potential cuts that could mean job losses for elementary and middle school foreign language and technology teachers as well as imposing mandatory furlough days.
“They’ve got some very difficult decisions to make,” Jeffers said.
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