The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education and local state legislators will gather Monday to discuss the school district’s ongoing financial crisis.
The highly anticipated, long-awaited meeting will mark the first time both groups have come together since January, which was about two months before the school district’s financial mismanagement came to light.
Since that time, the school district’s finances have come under state scrutiny, with one audit completed and second one about to begin, and a new superintendent is in place.
Rep. Donny Lambeth, a former chairman of the school board, said he is looking forward to meeting interim Superintendent Catty Moore and thanking her for the work she has done for the school district. Moore has overseen about $63 million in cuts to the 2025-26 budget, including the elimination of nearly 350 positions.
“The situation they find themselves in is unprecedented in N.C. so we don’t know how the State has responded to similar situations, but we will look at possible options knowing we are not in session and we at the State level can’t get a state budget and have our own challenges,” Lambeth said Thursday.
He expects all seven members of the local delegation to attend the 9 a.m., meeting at the Education Building on Bethania Station Road.
Sen. Dana Caudill Jones, a former chairwoman of the school board, will stay for about an hour so that she can get to Raleigh by noon, when the Senate reconvenes after nearly a month break, Lambeth said.
The school district’s debt from the 2024-25 budget year now stands at $37.1 million. School districts in North Carolina do not have authority to raise revenue and depend on local, state and federal governments for funding. A community fundraising campaign was launched last week, but it will not go toward the debt.
School board Chairwoman Deanna Kaplan formally requested $50.1 million from the state in a letter to Lambeth on July 31.
He quickly responded that the request came too late for the state to offer any immediate help and suggested that the school board “move on thinking some outside unit of government is going to help. It is just not an option.” He suggested both bodies meet in September.
Lambeth has said that the General Assembly can’t act on helping the school district before the legislature convenes for the short session next spring.
Sally Hodges-Copple, public policy analyst at the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center, countered that statement, telling the Journal earlier this month: “Lawmakers do have the ability to take up the state budget when they return on Sept. 22 and can obviously appropriate funds there.”
Lambeth and Sen. Paul Lowe each said they want to know details on how the crisis happened.
“People don’t really understand how we got here, and it’s hard for people to wrap their hands around it,” Lowe said. “I want a deeper understanding of how we got here.”
Moore plans to give legislators an overview of the school district’s finances, said school district spokeswoman Amanda Lehmert.
Past overviews, including one she gave to Greater Winston-Salem on Wednesday, have touched on how the school district found itself in this position and what has been put in place for 2025-26.
Lambeth said he also wants to respond to questions that have been raised in the community, such as why Education Lottery funds can’t be used and why a special session can’t be called to allocate funds.
“Then, we have asked the district to provide us information about the current status of their efforts to address their problems,” Lambeth said. “We would like to know what their plans are for the next interim and the ultimate search for the right person to rebuild the trust in the community.”
Moore’s six-month contract expires at the end of November.
Once the delegation understands the current financial situation, it can determine if there are any options available to help, Lambeth said.
Lowe said he is hopeful that the state will find a way to support the state’s fourth largest school district and its nearly 50,000 students.
“Whatever decision is made by the General Assembly, you have 170 people involved in it. That’s a lot of people,” he said. “I’m hopeful we can find something that we can do.”
No public comments will be allowed at the meeting.
lodonnell@wsjournal.com
336-727-7420
@lisaodonnellWSJ
Love
0
Funny
0
Wow
0
Sad
0
Angry
0
Want to see more like this?
Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox.
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Lisa O’Donnell
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today