WS/FCS to consider eliminating transportation to choice schools, increasing class sizes

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education will consider major cost-saving measures, including changes to transportation and larger class sizes, at its upcoming meeting to avoid a deficit next year.

The district has already made more than $23 million in cuts, which include a reduction of over 200 positions. But it has another $13 million to go. 

At a budget workshop on Tuesday, officials said the goal was to find cuts that have the least impact on positions. One idea is to begin only providing transportation for students attending residential and magnet schools — not choice schools. 

Superintendent Tricia McManus said this would impact about 2,500 kids, save $3.5 million, and make bus routes more efficient, which the state uses to determine transportation funding. 

“That's a big savings, and we are paying back the state for inefficiencies every year," McManus said. "And that comes off local dollars.”

The other big ticket item is increasing class sizes by two students. This would bring fourth and fifth-grade classrooms to a cap of 27 kids, middle school to 29, and high school to 31, saving the district $6.6 million. 

But multiple board members had concerns, like Trevonia Brown-Gaither. She’s a former teacher and pointed out that class sizes go beyond the existing caps already, which can be challenging. 

“I had 42 kids in my classroom, way above the cap," she said. 

Others said principals had already created master schedules for the upcoming school year, and this change would require redoing them. It would also mean that some teachers, likely those with the least experience in their building, would lose their class and be moved into a vacant position at a different school. 

"It's the least impactful on eliminating positions of employees because we've got vacancies," McManus said. 

The district is already moving forward on some smaller cuts, including eliminating a social emotional learning program called Second Step and a diagnostic assessment program called i-Ready, which would save nearly half a million dollars. 

Other ideas will be brought to the school board next Tuesday for approval.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.