Give a bigtime pat on the back to the Wake County commissioners, who earlier this year refused to automatically appropriate an additional $3 million in funding to the Wake school system until the enrollment numbers came in. Seems prudent since the system’s projections were off last year, and now it’s clear it’s very unlikely the system will meet its growth projections this year.
True to form, there’s already talk that the system still deserves the money. Here’s an excerpt from the News & Observer, which curiously refers to the commissioners’ refusal to appropriate money for non-existent students as a “denial of $3 million.” (emphasis is mine)
The denial of $3 million comes in a year in which school leaders complain they received $36.2 million less than they wanted from commissioners. Even though they’ll miss the projection, Rosa Gill, chairwoman of the school board, said the district should ask for the $3 million anyway.
“We can use the money,” Gill said. “It would help the students.”
Gurley, a frequent critic of the school system, dismissed the idea.
“They need the money for students who aren’t there?” Gurley said. “I’d like for them to make that argument.”
Me, too, since there’s a credible argument that the school system owes county taxpayers a refund from last year’s appropriation. Again, from the N&O:
Last year, Wake grew by 5,930 students, nearly 2,100 students fewer than projected. This sparked complaints from commissioners that the school board should have returned millions of dollars they routed to the state’s largest school district based on projections that overshot actual enrollment.
