Budget Cuts Cast Shadow on New School Year

State economic woes have forced legislators to cut funding from many sectors, including primary and secondary education.

Officials are still awaiting passage of the state budget in the N.C. General Assembly to determine just how hard they will be hit.

Kim Hoke, spokeswoman for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, said that despite the uncertainty, administration already has started planning for cuts.

"The magnitude of the cuts is not yet known," Hoke said.

She said the school system placed a freeze on all positions that are not directly teacher-principal related, and is holding two vacant teacher assistant positions per school.

Hoke added that the system has only allocated 80 to 85 percent of the supplies and materials budgeted to the individual schools.

Officials used capital outlay funds to balance the system budget, resulting in fewer building repairs over the summer, Hoke said.

She said that with enrollment growing next year, the system is not expecting large cuts compared to other districts statewide. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools had an enrollment of 10,019 during 2001-02, but officials are projecting 10,448 students for this academic year.

But Hoke said while there are clear signs of concern over impending budget cuts, she hopes the impact will not be too detrimental in the classroom.

"Hopefully the cuts will not affect students' education too directly," she said.

While most areas of public education are receiving funding reductions, the N.C. House recently proposed a pay raise that averaged 1.8 percent for teachers and principals.

Hoke said the proposal can be viewed as an incentive to draw teachers into the system and combat the current state teacher shortage.

Susan Hoffman, a first grade teacher at Mary Scroggs Elementary School, said she hopes the concerns of teachers will be a top priority in the budget.

"We're still waiting to find out about our raise," Hoffman said. "I hope they're still going to keep teachers in mind."

She said that while her school has not been forced to reduce supplies for the new year, any cuts are unfortunate.

"It's too bad that cuts have to be made at all," she said.

Ann Hill, PTA president at Ephesus Road Elementary, said one of her chief concerns is potential cutbacks in special areas, including programs for special education and academically-gifted students.

"People are concerned that any cutbacks will take (away) from any of these programs," Hill said.

But she said the PTA will work hard to support all faculty and students.

"We'll make every effort to meet their needs."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.