The Guilford County Schools Board of Education voted Tuesday night to request an additional $5.3 million from commissioners to help cover state-mandated teacher raises.
GCS, like other districts, crafted its local funding request months before the state adopted a budget. That meant officials had to guess what kind of raises the legislature would approve for school staff.
Chief Financial Officer Tyler Beck says the district budgeted a little under $8 million for them. But lawmakers approved higher raises than expected, especially for beginning teachers. They’ll cost roughly $13 million to cover.
“You know, this is a positive to the community, positive to our profession," Beck said. "However, there is an implication to the local budget, and the actual budget request should reflect that.”
The school board voted to ask commissioners to cover the gap. Beck says the intent is to show the strain on the district — he’s not confident the county will give them more money. Another recent state law, Senate Bill 889, reduced county revenue and made for a difficult budget season.
Without more funding though, Beck says the district will likely need to scale back.