To provide up-to-date and transparent information about the district’s financial condition, this is the December 19 Community Budget Update.
Fundraising Success
The All in For Our Schools campaign has fulfilled its goal to raise $1.4 million to fully fund school supply accounts for all 80 WS/FCS schools, Superintendent Don Phipps announced at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday. Checks will be delivered directly to schools in January.
This fund was seeded by a $500,000 pledge by Mike and Wendy Brenner. Modern Automotive provided a large donation to reach the $1.4 million goal.
All in For Our Schools continues to raise money to support the district. So far, the Futures Fund, created by the Winston-Salem Foundation to pay down the district’s debt, has raised $5.6 million. The money will be matched by $5 million in debt forgiveness by Forsyth County.
WS/FCS is using the Futures Fund donations to pay down what it owes to the substitute contractor, ESS.
“This is just an incredible amount of support from our community,” Phipps said at this week’s Board of Education meeting. “We are very grateful for that.”
Financial Support
The Board of Education approved a new contract with school finance experts HIL Consultants this week. The firm has provided the Finance Department with support while the district is without key roles in that department.
Phipps said he is prioritizing finding a chief financial officer. The district has had an interim CFO since May.
“We hope to have that position filled soon with the right person,” Phipps told the board. “In the meantime, there is work that needs to be done.”
The $145,000 contract will last six months, or until the services are no longer required.
Spending Update
The Board of Education received the latest district budget-to-actuals report at its Finance Committee meeting this week.
Internal Controls Review
Officials at Mauldin & Jenkins were in Winston-Salem earlier this month working with district staff on a review of financial operations. They reviewed more than 200 documents provided and interviewed 15 staff members to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of our internal controls, fiscal policies and enterprise resources planning system.
The initial draft of their work was delivered to NCDPI last week. The final draft, which will be shared publicly in early 2026, will include an implementation roadmap to address any recommended changes.