To provide up-to-date and transparent information about the district’s financial condition, this is the August 22 Community Budget Update.
County Funding
Today WS/FCS received $8.5 million approved by Forsyth County earlier this month.
These funds will be sent to pay down the district’s $11.X million debt to the state. WS/FCS overspent state funds for noninstructional support by $11.3 million.
Reduction in Force
On Tuesday, August 19, Interim Superintendent Catty Q. Moore provided a budget update with proposals for a Reduction in Force (RIF) to the Board of Education. While the district continues to work on paying down its Fiscal Year 2024-2025 debt, it will also need to make additional reductions in positions to balance the current year budget.
You can see Moore’s presentation and the entire board meeting here. You can read more details in the Board Wrap-Up.
The RIF includes approximately reductions of about 344 positions, reduced months of employment for about 289 employees, demotions for 51 employees, and furloughs for about 638 employees. This will save $18.2 million. These savings do not affect the district’s deficit of $46.1 million, which is from last fiscal year.
“We either don’t pay our bills, or we don’t pay our people,” Moore told the board. “That is where we are right now. That is why this reduction is coming forward.”
Since the board adopted its interim budget in June, the district identified a need for at least $18 million in savings, based on the district receiving less state funding, having less federal carryover funds, and using some reserve funds to pay down last year’s deficit. Without further reductions, the district will have difficulty meeting its financial obligations in September, Moore said.
Additional Audit Requested
Moore also announced during the meeting that the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) requested the State Board of Education and the Local Government Commission jointly hire an audit firm to review the internal control procedures of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
The district has provided a detailed overview of how it will fix processes and procedures that led to last year’s budget deficit in response to OSA’s investigative audit. Read the letter.
WS/FCS hired an auditing firm to do an independent analysis of the district’s finances every year. That audit is already underway for Fiscal Year 2024-25.
Find past updates, presentations, and more on the Community Budget Update portal.