To attain more curriculum funding, Macon County Schools gave a detailed presentation to the Macon County Board of Commissioners during the May 30 budget workshop.
The proposed county budget presented on May 23 has education operations increasing for the first time in four years by $880,638, bringing the schools’ budget to $9,696,369. However, MCS requested a $1.5 million increase
“If you’re a county, and you want to be competitive in the state of North Carolina in terms of industry, you want to have an educated workforce. And to do that, you invest in schools,” retiring Superintendent Chris Baldwin told the board. “A county that wants to do those sorts of things invests in schools, attracts families and attracts business for those high-quality workers. Nothing prevents a county from investing in the operational needs of a school. There’s nothing requiring it, but there’s nothing preventing it. And competitive counties do it.”
The presentation went into detail about how MCS uses its roughly $60 per day per student, of which $12 comes from the county, and how the state (roughly $34 million), the federal government (roughly $13 million) and county government (currently around $10.2 million) funds the school system.
Essentially, due to projected salary increases, the need to hire more teachers to meet class-size regulations in the first grade and other operational increases, MCS says they’re facing a budget shortfall in 2023-24.
Incoming Superintendent Josh Lynch said that the $1.5 million increase would help MCS maintain its current level of service. MCS Finance Officer Angie Cook explained that out of the projected $848,000 fund balance going into 2023-24, in the current budget, the school system would have to use most of it to cover expenses, dwindling the fund balance to around $100,000.
“That’s not fiscally responsible for us, and that’s not fiscally responsible for you,” Lynch said of the fund balance.
If the funding mandate isn’t met, Lynch said MCS will have to cut down on its needs, cut locally funded positions through attrition and/or utilize its federal ESSER funding, essentially canceling the East Franklin Elementary classroom addition project. Last month, the school board voted to pause the project in case the funds are needed for operations. ESSER funding must be spent by December 2024.
Board Chair Paul Higdon thanked the MCS trio for helping the commissioners to understand their funding structure.
MCS capital projects
Higdon then asked about a series of capital projects, mainly the Nantahala sewer project, the Macon Middle sewer project, the Iotla Valley geothermal project and the East Franklin sewer issues. Baldwin also warned there are other “sleeping dogs” out there – potential capital needs projects that could pop up at any time.
In a pivot to Pre-K service and acknowledging that the question “would make people’s heads explode,” Higdon asked about “non-American citizens” and ESL (English as a Second Language) students putting a burden on the school system and whether those students must provide the same documentation as English-speaking citizens. Lynch said only students classified as homeless don’t have to provide certain types of documentation to enroll, and there are none of those in Pre-K currently.
Commissioner Gary Shields said when he was the FHS principal, he couldn’t ask 9th-12th grade students about their citizenship status.
Commissioner Josh Young asked about Pre-K, mentioning Highlands, and how it does financially. MCS’s Brooke Keener said public schools don’t get the same rates for Pre-K kids that private schools do and recommended the school board and county board write a letter to the state legislature about it.
During discussion about the Macon Middle School track, Young said it was determined the track can’t expand from six lanes to eight lanes without serious regrading or moving the baseball light poles. The new quote for the six-lane track is $549,515. The commissioners took no action on the track project during the May 30 meeting.
Commissioner John Shearl brought up the Highlands soccer field and said that based on his research of ankle/foot and hip injuries, he highly recommends a natural grass field over a turf field. Currently, the field is being tested through the end of next spring to determine the best drainage or surface for the facility.
Young also brought up the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the school board recently approved regarding the FHS project, saying the commissioners will need to look at it.
During the meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted to approve a change order to the Macon Middle School locker room project. Essentially, the building will be moved 2.5 feet to avoid putting footers right on a six-inch sewer line. The change costs $5,251.
Sheriff’s Office
Macon County Sheriff Brent Holbrooks presented a new organizational layout for the Sheriff’s Office, which he said will help determine how much each department spends.
“In years past, investigations [and] patrol were all under one admin, there wasn’t no way to properly track that,” Holbrooks said.
The organization will keep track of MCSO’s 85 full-time (57 sworn officers) and 13 part-time employees.
Holbrooks requested two new positions, one patrol position and one narcotics position, with that money coming out of the MCSO administration’s budget.
To increase all patrols to six people and thus have a deputy covering Nantahala and Highlands, Holbrooks said that they have put most K9 officers on patrol.
When Holbrooks was sworn in as sheriff in December 2022, he said there were 12 open positions, and that is currently down to four or five.
“By early fall, we will be completely staffed,” Holbrooks said.
Higdon asked Holbrooks about overtime, which is reduced by 27.6%, or $94,000. Holbrooks said overtime is unforeseen.
Regarding the jail, Holbrooks said it’s continually understaffed and has the highest turnover rate.
Shearl was critical of the metal detectors and scanners at the courthouse entrances, which just became fully staffed in the last two months.
“This is how our freedoms get taken away,” Shearl said about the scanners, saying the public can’t go into the courthouse to the county offices without going through a checkpoint.
During the summer the SROs will help conduct bicycle patrols on the Little Tennessee River Greenway. Holbrooks said K9s will be implemented in the school system to focus on finding vaping pens.
Emergency Services
Macon County EMS Director Warren Cabe’s budget presentation included the need to have 24-hour ambulance crews in Highlands and Nantahala, in addition to three in the Franklin area.
Next budget workshop
When Higdon asked whether to have a second budget workshop, Shearl quickly replied “yes.” When asked which departments to bring in, Shearl mentioned the tax office, landfill and “the little offices,” mentioning Macon County Habilities, saying he wanted to see how they were funded.
“Everyone is asking for more money,” Shearl said, saying they need to look out for the seniors on fixed incomes.
Young said Macon Habilities, due to most of its funding being from grants, would be a “distraction” compared to departments that have a lot more county funding.
County Manager Derek Roland said they need to prioritize and mentioned the Health Department and Department of Social Services.
The June 8 workshop agenda will include Solid Waste, Health Department, Social Services, and Parks and Recreation.
The workshop will be held at 5 p.m. in the commissioners boardroom on the third floor of the courthouse. No public comment will be held at that meeting, as it’s not required.