4 days ago
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools letter outlines 2 proposals to deal with deficit
FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools superintendent sent a letter to the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners on Thursday.
It included two possible ways to pay off the $42 million budget deficit.
The school district overspent by about 5.3%.
It's a deficit that Forsyth County commissioners like Gloria Whisenhunt shared their frustrations about during a Thursday meeting.
'I've never seen anything this bad. I really have not, and I don't know how they can expect our property owners to solve their problems. They talked about how some of them aren't sleeping at night. Well, some of us aren't sleeping at night either,' Whisenhunt said.
Of the $42 million the school district owes, according to a spokesperson, about $18 million is owed to the state, and there's $24 million in local funds that need to be repaid.
The letter Tricia McManus sent to county leaders detailed two options on how they could get out of the financial hole.
The first option would include a one-time payment of $32.1 million, which county leaders would have to give them.
The funds would go towards the $42 million shortfall.
If county commissioners deny the first option, the second includes setting aside $14.1 million out of the proposed $180 million the district is asking county leaders for the next fiscal year.
A spokesperson for the school system said the $14.1 million would go towards the $24 million owed in local funds.
When it comes to paying back the state, district leaders plan to negotiate a payment plan.
When FOX8 asked how the school district plans to pay the remaining debt, a spokesperson said they're still figuring that out.
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