As classroom doors open for the school year, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school (WS/FCS) Board of Education approved sweeping layoffs in an attempt to patch a $46 million budget hole. The plan eliminates nearly 350 staff positions across the 4th largest county school system in North Carolina — but will not reduce the deficit.
The 6-3 vote approved position cuts to Central Office employees, Testing Coordinators, Exceptional Children (EC) teachers and assistants and alternatively licensed teachers, amounting to 343 positions.
The bulk of the overspending comes from COVID-era funds that were used to hire new positions across the district — but after the pandemic ended, those positions were never reorganized. The district also spent $75 million in bonuses it could not afford to give.
When WS/FCS officials put up roadblocks to stop the overspending, the district manually overrode the budget 311 times to approve purchases.
Community reacts
“This is not news or a recommendation that anyone wants to deliver. But it is where we are and what I was hired to come here and look at and do,” said Superintendent Catty Moore after introducing the measure to the board. “So I am delivering a recommendation that gets us to where we need to be.”
She continued: “This recommendation will impact lives, and it will change lives. It will cause uncertainty, anxiety, anger and a myriad of reactions. All valid.”
Ahead of the final vote, parents and educators lashed out at the board during a heated public comment period.
“The teachers didn’t get us into this situation, this crisis,” said Ladema Gore, a teacher at Meadowlark Elementary who has taught in the county for 18 years. “The school district leadership, along with your poor decision-making, got us into what we’re dealing with today […] The children will be paying the consequences.”
A student, who identified himself as Jace, read off a list of his former teachers to the board members.
“These aren’t just names; these are people who have and are still making a difference. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the time and support they gave me,” he said. “Find another way to balance the budget.”
A $46 million crisis
Earlier this month, the State Auditors’ office found that a series of overspending and mismanagement by the district led to the $46 million debt.
“Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools dug itself into a deep financial hole, and it’s going to take real discipline to climb out of it,” said State Auditor Dave Bolick. “Our schools need to be focused on teaching students. That becomes a lot more difficult when you’re staring down a $46 million budget deficit.”
How the Board of Education can close this gap is unclear. WS/FCS’s budget shortfall comes as state and federal education funding faces similar uncertainty. In Raleigh, the state legislature still has yet to pass its own budget for the fiscal year, leaving school districts statewide unsure of their spending capacity as schools return to session.
In addition, North Carolina is one of the few states in the country where school boards do not have independent taxing authority. By law, they rely on county governments to set the districts’ budgets — meaning the school system won’t be able to raise the revenue itself.
As the layoffs have taken hold, walkouts and demonstrations are erupting across the school district and are expected to continue.
