Unbelievable. That’s the only apt description of what the News & Observer reports is occurring in Wake County schools. Wake has enrolled 1,023 fewer students than the funding that was appropriated to the system by the state. It’s not unusual for projected enrollment to differ from actual enrollment. Projections are educated guesses.
Wake gets $4,639 per student from the state. While the final decision hasn’t been made, Wake’s funding could be reduced by the cost of 511.5 students – half of the 1,023-student shortfall, according to Andrew Cox, section chief of DPI’s school reporting section.
Here’s what’s different about the current scenario, however.
When Republicans led the Wake County Board of Commissioners, demands were often made that the school system should return money whenever enrollment fell short of projections. Wake’s enrollment came 750 students below the district’s projections, a figure involving more than $1.5 million in local dollars.
But James West, new chairman of the board of commissioners, said he has no intention of asking the school system to give back money. The new all-Democratic commission that took office after sweeping last month’s elections accused the former Republican majority of underfunding the school system.
“We don’t want to do anything that would destroy our working together and coming forward with the kind of cooperation we need to work in a positive way,” West said.
And what about the “cooperation” with the taxpayers who expect that the money they work hard for is spent efficiently? Bottom line: Wake schools will be keeping money intended for students that haven’t actually enrolled in the system. What is appropriate about that?
