Dear Chair Evans and members of the Wake County Board of Commissioners,

On behalf of the Wake County Board of Education, I present to you our proposed budget and our county appropriation request for the 2025-26 fiscal year. 

Please know that we recognize and appreciate that your consistent and impactful financial support has allowed our school district to thrive as one of the most accomplished public school districts in the nation, even as it grows into one of the largest. Together we have built a community with a trained and talented workforce, a vibrant economy, and a high quality of life that attracts new residents from around the country.

Each year brings its own budget needs and difficult decisions; however, this year is exceptional. I know that you understand and recognize the current political and economic uncertainty around the future of public education funding, at the state and national level, just as I and the most conscientious Board of Education members also understand and appreciate the economic vulnerabilities that you, and our county’s residents, are facing.

In light of this uncertainty, our proposal represents a balance between meeting the most urgent needs of our school district, including opening four new schools next school year, and making strategic budget reductions to valuable programs, necessary to reduce our total operating costs.

For the 2025-26 school year, we are requesting a $40.3 million increase in county appropriations to sustain student success while strategically realigning $17.3 million to maintain a balanced budget. 

New growth, new schools, rising costs

Our community continues to grow, and with that growth comes the need for expanded educational infrastructure. 

In addition to increased expenses required to support student enrollment growth and rising utility costs, this year we will open four new schools: Bowling Road Elementary (Fuquay-Varina), Pleasant Plains Elementary (Apex), Rex Road Elementary (Holly Springs), and Felton Grove High School (Holly Springs).

Bringing these schools online requires new investments in staffing, transportation, and day-to-day operations - investments necessary to ensure every student has access to a high-quality learning environment. Yet the funding we receive from the state is inadequate to fully support these new schools.

To compound this, the state places additional regulatory burdens on our district, leading to additional significant costs, including: Legislated salary increases not fully covered by the state, leaving local governments to bridge the gap; Class size restrictions that require us to inefficiently operate our elementary schools below actual capacity and to transport children far from their neighborhoods; and, State-mandated transfers of local funds to charter schools, that siphon away over $81.5 million from the total county appropriation.

In light of these pressures, we are unable to expand programming this year, and will focus our efforts on maintaining the standards of excellence Wake County families expect.

Thoughtful realignment of resources

To offset these rising costs and new obligations, we are making targeted reductions to important programs that total $17.3 million. We’ve worked hard to shield classrooms from the worst of the impact, though we recognize that every cut has consequences. While we prioritized minimizing the direct impact on schools, with roughly half of the proposed cuts coming from WCPSS Central Services, some measures will affect our students and school-based staff directly.

These reductions include:

• Streamlining administrative and program management, staffing, and services;
• Reduced funding for school supplies and support programs; and
• Fewer positions in clerical support, assistant principals, counselors, social workers, and permanent substitutes.

Responsive to public demands

Our Board of Education gave deep and thoughtful consideration to our superintendent’s proposed budget, and held public hearings around Wake County, inviting residents to comment. The response was overwhelming; though necessary, cuts to essential services and staff in our schools to reduce projected 2025-2026 expenses were not popular. Wake County residents support Wake County teachers and healthy schools. While we could not eliminate all of the proposed cuts objected to by the public, our Board worked hard to incorporate the highest prioritized demands into the budget we present to you, without requesting any funds beyond our superintendent’s original ask.

Therefore, full-funding of our requested county appropriation will allow us to work together to:

• Prevent elimination of employer contributions for staff dental insurance;
• Prevent a reduction in funding for 43 Restart Schools; and,
• Prevent reductions to important custodial, maintenance, energy, and grounds contracted services, necessary to keep our schools clean and operational.

A strong partnership

As we face these challenges together, we understand and recognize the uncertain political and economic climate we are in, and our Board has worked hard to present you with a proposed budget and appropriation request that makes significant sacrifices in order to fall within your means to fund. You will find no fluff or puffery within this budget, only the minimum required to keep our schools operational and functioning at the level expected by Wake County families.

We make this request for only the most necessary of funding with respect and appreciation for your long track record of placing a high value on sustaining a strong public education system in Wake County. In return, we hope that you work to find what is necessary to support our students, educators, and schools, and we thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

J. Christopher Heagarty

Chair, Wake County Board of Education