Latest news with #NCDepartmentofPublicInstruction
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NC Board of Education releases new report on school vouchers
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Most of the recipients of North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarships weren't from public schools. That's according to data from the NC Department of Public Instruction. Staff presented the new data at the State Board of Education meeting Wednesday. It shows that of the 80,325 opportunity scholarship recipients, 6,710 came from public schools, that's about 8.4% of recipients. The Opportunity Scholarships are vouchers given to North Carolina families to pay for private schools. Last September, state lawmakers decided to funnel more than half a billion dollars into the program and removed income limits. Republicans argued it promoted school choice, while Democrats who voted against it said the funding would largely go to families that can already afford private school. NC lawmakers pass $463 million school voucher bill Of those 6,710 students who came from public schools, 5,955 were enrolled in the fall or full year, which contributed to just over $34.3 million in vouchers. If the students had stayed in public school, the state would have been awarded just over $44.4 million. This data does not include the remaining 755 students who enrolled in the Spring. Also, the data did not say if the other over 73,000 students who received vouchers were already attending private schools or were new students. All this comes after NC Board of Education members called for a moratorium on new voucher spending earlier this year in hopes of reinvesting the funds into traditional public schools. Wednesday staff made a recommendation to the board, which includes reinvesting the $10 million difference. They also recommended using a Uniform Identification system to better track data. The board is expected to make a decision at their meeting on Thursday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$900,000 of lottery revenue helps High Point Central High School
HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — North Carolina lottery sales have reached record highs, touting a billion dollars for local schools in revenue from 2024 ticket sales. In North Carolina, the NC Department of Public Instruction states that about 30 percent of lottery revenue goes toward education. Triad food banks, schools impacted by USDA cuts They're using $900,000 of lottery revenue to improve High Point Central High School. 'Our needs are prioritized. We did a lot of that work during the 2019 master plan,' said Dr. Julius Monk, deputy superintendent of business and operations at Guilford County Schools. Monk has been working to improve GCS since 2013, excluding a stint in Durham. It was a lot of his hard work that identified $2 billion in facility needs at GCS in 2019. 'For our major needs, we've dedicated about $500 million of our total $2 billion bond referendum,' Monk said. HPCHS was slated as a priority renovation six years ago and estimated to cost about $49 million. The work is ongoing, with $900,000 in lottery revenue slated for HVAC repairs. 'You can only use it for those types of work. You can't pay off bond or debt service with it,' Monk said. According to a Public Schools First graphic, 51 percent of the education revenue goes toward construction. From 2023 to 2024, $561 million went toward construction. Other pieces of the pie are support personnel, pre-K, scholarships and school transportation. The breakdown is decided by the state and broken down into two pots. One is the capital replacement fund. 'It's based off of your average daily membership, so the larger your school system, the more funding you receive for capital replacements,' Monk said. One is for the repair and renovation fund, which is being used to repair HPCHS. 'Each county receives $500,000. It doesn't matter how large your county is. Everybody receives the same amount each year,' he said. You can save it up or mishmash it to get the work done, like on the chillers and pumps at HPCHS. GCS received a total of $31.6 million in the fiscal year 2024 from lottery revenue. The GCS budget last fiscal year was $998 million, meaning the lottery funded about 3.2 percent of their budget. Every cent matters, as you can see at HPCHS. 'It is definitely time for us to continue to invest in those facilities so we can keep the doors open and keep our students in school and learning,' Monk said. GCS has received about $496 million in lottery revenue in total since 2006. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
