The Wake County school board is faced with making more budget cuts ahead of the new school year. The school board on Tuesday received an update and recommendations for how to reduce the district's 2026-2027 budget by $17.6 million.
The school board had already cut more than $10 million from the district's operations when they passed a budget in May for the coming year. Several board members and district staff described it as the most challenging budget they had ever worked on.
Now, because the new state budget requires higher raises and bonuses than the district's finance staff anticipated, they have to find the funds to pay for some employees' raises.
The state budget raises teacher pay by an average of 8%, with a nearly 18% raise for first year teachers. The state funds those raises for most teachers, but many school districts also hire employees using local funds, and their raises are not covered by the state.
In Wake County Public Schools, the salaries of about 1 in 5 teachers and more than a quarter of mental health professionals are locally-funded with county tax revenue. The district has chosen to hire more teachers for electives, and more psychologists, social workers, and school counselors than the state requires and funds.
District staff presented the school board with recommendations for reconciling the budget at their Tuesday work session. Some of the adjustments come from updated cost savings or technical adjustments that would not impact the district's services. One thing that may be on the chopping block is a raise to teachers' locally-funded salary supplement, which they get in addition to their state pay.
These are the proposed budget cuts that could affect the school district's resources:
- Remove a proposed $1.9 million increase to the locally-funded salary supplement to school employees' salaries
- Reduce per pupil allotments to schools by $500,000, or $3.22 per student
- Reduce the centralized budget for Restart schools by $500,000
- Across-the-board Central Services non-personnel budget reduction of $500,000
- Reduce contracted repairs by $200,000
"Many of the things that we presented are one-time items," said Superintendent Robert Taylor. "But this will also make us have to look at our budget and begin to look at some serious reductions that we know are going to be in front of us."
The district's finance staff have projected a $14.3 million increase in the district's costs in the 2027-2028 school year, due to changes in Medicaid and other funding and increased costs for employee compensation.
With this upcoming school year fast approaching, the board has a tight timeline to make decisions on potential cuts. They need to pass a final budget by the end of the month so raises and bonuses can go out to school employees in the fall, as required by the state. If the board approves new salary schedules by Sept. 1, employees will receive raises in their September pay check, while bonuses and retroactive pay are due to go out in October.
The school board could make a decision as soon as Aug. 18, or they could hold a special board meeting on Aug. 25 to complete the budget.
Wake County Schools to reduce bus service as it works to hire more drivers
As the district prepares for the new school year, it is still in the process of hiring bus drivers. Wake County Public Schools will be reducing bus service at 20 schools this fall due to a lack of drivers.
The district has potential candidates to help fill the vacancies, but they will need to complete the process to become licensed to drive a school bus, which takes up to a couple months. The district has also invested $1.6 million in bonuses aimed at helping retain bus drivers and improve their attendance.
Still, the district needs about 32 full-time bus drivers for the school year. While new drivers are hired, other transportation staff who have a commercial driver's license will fill in.
"As we come into the first day of school, every bus will have a driver in that bus, a CDL certified driver to drive for Wake County Public Schools," said Jason Tonkins, the district's senior director of transportation.
But to make that happen, the district plans to reduce the number of routes by expanding no transport zones near schools, also known as walk zones. Students who live in those zones will have to walk to school or find other transportation.
"We're talking hundreds — maybe a thousand — of our families that are going to be impacted by this," said board member Chris Heagerty.
Heagerty suggested that in the following school year, the school board could consider reducing neighborhood transportation to magnet schools in order to restore some service in no transport zones.
