The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education met for three hours Saturday morning to outline its concerns with the superintendent's proposed budget.
The board voted to reject Superintendent Crystal Hill's proposed $2.1 billion budget in a contentious meeting on Tuesday, 8-1, with only board member Monty Witherspoon voting yes. The board members did not detail specific revisions they wanted to see in the budget at the time. The unusual 8 a.m. Saturday meeting was noted as a "budget workshop." Immediately upon convening, the board voted to go into closed session to discuss matters with their attorney and consider "specific personnel matters."
They spent more than an hour in closed session discussing the unspecified personnel matters, and returned to open session without providing more information.
On Saturday, Board Chair Stephanie Sneed said the board needs to ensure "all are in alignment" with the budget.
The board plans to hold two budget meetings this coming week and then vote the week after that. They must submit their proposed budget to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners by May 15, after which the commission will decide whether to meet CMS' budget ask. The majority of the district's budget comes from the state, with CMS asking the county for just under $700 million under Hill's proposal.
"I don't think we're that far apart," Sneed said of the budget. But, she added, "we’re not going to solve the issue" on Saturday.
Board members on Saturday spent almost two hours discussing the budget among themselves. District staff did not participate in the discussion, which mostly centered on what areas board members have concerns and further questions about. Board members did not ask for specific changes, and Sneed emphasized that they don't expect more total funding.
"We’re not magically coming up with more money," she said. "We’re talking about shifts in where the dollars go, if there are any ... A magic fairy is not coming down to give us more money."
Some board members also asked about concerns they have that are not strictly budget-related, such as whether iReady software for testing is being used appropriately.
The discussion did shed a bit more light on concerns some board members share. Vice Chair Dee Rankin asked how the school's funding allotments will be impacted by falling enrollment. CMS is projected to have about 139,000 students next year, down from roughly 147,000 a decade ago. Charlitta Hatch said she wants to know whether schools have the resources to hit academic goals and close achievement gaps.
"It may not be a funding issue, but I’m asking the question. And I know that it’s a fair question," she said.
Sneed echoed her, saying the questions before the board boil down to: "Will these dollar amounts allow us to hit our goal?"
Some members also raised concerns about support personnel and other staff. Lenora Shipp asked whether there are enough psychologists serving schools, and also how a shift to reallocate pre-K facilitators will impact students.
"I’m still not clear, the impact to the school level. I think that’s critical," she said.
Shamaiye Haynes said she's concerned principals are dropping teachers who do specials like art and music in favor of more core instruction. She also said she's concerned about how district staff are projecting school enrollment and teacher allotments.
"It would be helpful for us as a board to hear and understand whether or not the staff is making projections accurately," she said.
Some questions were more philosophical: Are the best teachers in the right schools? Can allocating more money guarantee better outcomes? Is the budget equitable?
Other board members said they were frustrated with aspects of how the budget has been presented. Liz Monterrey-Duval said there isn't enough funding to close achievement gaps, and that the budget information is presented in a format that can make finding specific information hard.
"Whatever side you land me on, I will tell you that’s not enough," she said. Later, talking about specific funding information, she said, "I shouldn’t have to go through a 3,000-page budget book. Is that unfair to ask?"
Despite Sneed's admonition that there's no money fairy, some board members still pushed for the district's staff to be more aggressive in their budget ask.
"If this is not enough to hit our goals and for all students to be able to achieve and thrive, let's say what it is that we need," said Hatch.
Rankin said he's concerned with that approach.
"I don't know if there's a dollar amount. To me, that's more philosophical, like I don't know if we just throw money, like hey, this is what we need, money, money, money, it's more than that to me," he said.
The board will hold another budget workshop on Tuesday.
