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Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Seeks $155M From County

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools building. KERI BROWN/WFDD

A new budget proposal submitted by the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools reveals the district is seeking $155M from Forsyth County. That's a little more than 25 percent of its entire proposed budget of $616 million.

This is the first budget prepared under new Superintendent Angela Hairston.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports the vote was near-unanimous, with one dissenter.

The budget includes $11 million that would come from the quarter-cent sales tax voters approved in March. That figure was adjusted downward from $13 million because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those funds would help boost a local salary supplement for teachers. 

Bus drivers and hourly food service staff would see a 3 percent pay increase, with all other classified and non-certified staff eligible for 2 percent raises.

County commissioners are expected to review the budget proposal on Thursday, after which the board can make modifications before taking a final vote.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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