A monthly Forsyth County teacher supplement funded by sales tax will not be reduced, as previously expected.
Since 2020, eligible licensed Winston-Salem/Forsyth County teachers have received what’s called the Article 46 Supplement in addition to their annual salaries.
It’s funded by quarter-cent sales tax revenue, which fluctuates every year.
County officials initially said last quarter’s revenues fell short of their projections by half a million dollars. In anticipation of further loss, the district prepared to reduce the supplements from $300 to $275.
This sparked major concerns for teachers in the district. Some, like Lee Childress, criticized the idea during a school board meeting on Tuesday.
He said that while the loss of $250 annually might not seem like a lot, it is for some.
"I personally know teachers who are single parents and literally scrape pennies to make sure when the end of the month comes that they'll have enough," Childress said. "When you're trying to decide whether to feed your kids or pay the power bill, it is a lot of money."
He said he knew that this year was going to be tight financially, given the district's ongoing budgetary crisis, but he never thought a pay cut was in the cards.
Luckily, district officials had some good news for a change. The county informed them, just hours before the meeting, that the latest revenue projections are looking more positive, so reductions were no longer necessary.
Interim Superintendent Catty Moore said the district should also be able to start building a reserve in the event that sales tax revenue does fall short in the future. Once that's established, and future sales tax revenues come in as projected, Moore said the school board could decide to distribute more funding.
"If we don't need it, we can allocate it out," Moore said. "Because you don't want to continue to grow that, you want to give it to the teachers."
Moore said teachers will also begin to see the Article 46 Supplement as a separate item on their paycheck, so they can more clearly identify how much money they're receiving and from what source.