Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools faces $2.8 million shortfall

The recession has finally caught up with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and it may cost the district more than $3 million .

Jeffrey Nash, spokesman for the district , said cuts would be inevitable now that the school system had spent all of its cash reserves that held it through the recession. He said the reserves prevented them from making the cuts other nearby school systems suffered.

“We have been concerned for years. Our cash reserves have been used over previous years,” Nash said.

At a meeting last week, the district’s Board of Education met with administrators from the school system, including Superintendent Tom Forcella , to discuss the budget.

Forcella had created a budget request, which the board will consider for adoption. The proposed budget includes a $3.7 million shortfall. But after the district imposes about $900,000 in reductions, the budget will only see a $2.8 million shortfall.

Jamezetta Bedford , chairwoman of the board, said that a meeting on April 8 will feature representatives from each school in the system to discuss the superintendent’s proposed budget.

The Board of Education will vote to adopt the budget, which will then be sent to county commissioners on April 10. The process lasts until July.

“It’s a long, drawn-out process,” Bedford said.

At the meeting last week, members of the community were allowed to speak out about the budget cuts. Nash said the community was very supportive of public schools.

“That sends a loud and clear signal that education is a priority,” he said.

Community speakers at the meeting expressed concerns over the reduction of teachers’ assistants and gifted specialists, which work with intellectually gifted students to challenge them in the classroom. Others were concerned that students who have trouble learning would be left behind.

Andrew Davidson, a member of the Board of Education , warned that cuts would happen wherever they had to.

“No part of the school is immune to budget cuts, and gifted students aren’t different,” Davidson said.

Carolyn Christians , a mother of three students spread throughout the system, said she has noticed the effects of the reduced funds already.

She said her son’s teachers have left for other jobs, and the replacements aren’t familiar with the class subject.

“The turnover is discouraging. The teachers seem to have been thrown into it without a lot of preparation,” Christians said.

She also said the thought of moving to another location had crossed her mind, and said that she had moved to Chapel Hill because of its reputation for progressive education.

“Never had it occurred to me that that would be the issue,” she said.

city@dailytarheel.com