ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — The Alamance-Burlington School System is still looking for a plan to address its budget short fall of $3.2 million.
The deputy superintendent of Alamance-Burlington Schools presented plans to school district leaders that could potentially solve their financial issues on Tuesday.
“We need to find money between now and the end of this fiscal year, which is June 30,” said Les Atkins, ABSS public information officer.
ABSS is still feeling the pressure to address its financial issues.
The presented financial reduction plan could offer the district some relief in potential savings. It was the school board’s first time hearing the plan.
“This will really be their first time to discuss this plan and look at and what we can do to go forward,” Atkins said.
The first two options would not result in layoffs.
One option would absorb existing vacancies like high school counselors, assistant principals and school nurses. Another option would reduce the number of months certain employees work.
The third option would leave several staff members in the district without a job.
None of the plans call for cutting the Elementary Spanish Immersion Program, which was initially considered.
A list of subscription programs like “Leader In Me” and “A+ Arts” could potentially be eliminated. This could save the district an estimated $78,000.
“Obviously, that is a last resort at this point. So that’s sort of what we’re looking at,“ Atkins said.
During the meeting, school board members also asked about the district’s finances and available ESSER funds.
Many board members wanted to know if those funds would help save positions or programs.
The district is still looking for a way to solve the shortfall of $3.2 million before June 30.
“Obviously, we’ve had about a 50% increase in cost in our utilities. The substitute pay has increased in the last few months … We had budgeted numbers, but they were actually more than what we anticipated. So that’s the reason for the shortfall,” Atkins said.
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School board members said they would like to see the plan presented to county commissioners.
“Another option our board asked today is that we exhaust all of our options with the Department of Public Instruction and using any money that we may have left over from our federal COVID dollars,” Atkins said. “So we’re going to look at that as well to try to see what exactly we can do to avoid sending anyone home.”
ABSS school board members will meet again on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. to discuss a budget for the 2024–2025 school year, and it will be followed with a vote on the revised financial reduction plan at 6:30 p.m.