Proposed $98.4 Million Budget Plan Forwarded To County Commissioners
JOHNSTON COUNTY – Johnston County Public Schools (JCPS) is seeking a 15.1 percent increase in funding from Johnston County Commissioners for the next fiscal year. That’s the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. Eric Bracy and the school board.
In a 5-to-1 vote, the school board approved Dr. Bracy’s proposed 2023-2024 fiscal year budget, which has been forwarded to County Manager Rick Hester and Johnston County Commissioners for their review and consideration.
Under the spending plan, JCPS wants $88,497,179 in Current Expenses for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, up from $77,573,000 this year. Capital Funding would increase from $8 million to $10 million.
Combining those numbers, JCPS received $85,573,000 from the County this year. Next year, they want $98,497,179, a $12,924,179 funding increase.
The proposed budget would increase the minimum pay to $16 an hour for classified employees, which includes teacher assistants and cafeteria workers. Teacher supplements would increase $500 per year. $350,000 is earmarked to increase supplements for principals. Funds are included to hire School Resource Officers (SROs) at all public schools.
$7.4 million is proposed for a one-time recruitment and retention bonus. This money would come from Fund Balance.
$1.7 million is included for performance bonuses to staff in schools graded “D” or “F” where improvements have been noted.
The spending plan would take $7.4 million from the Fund Balance to fully-fund the 2023-2024 fiscal year budget. JCPS is projected to have $26,445,361 in Fund Balance by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, 2023. The school system will have $19,045,361 in reserve funding by the end of the next fiscal year, on June 30, 2024, based on projections.
JCPS has 36,866 students enrolled this year, down from 37,309 in 2022. JCPS is projected to have 37,811 students next year, an increase of 945 students.
Johnston County Charter Schools had a combined 3,712 students enrolled this year, up from 2,160 in 2022. Charter Schools are projected to have the same number of students in 2024 as 2023, according to JCPS data projections.
Dr. Bracy said his academic goal is to have one hundred percent of Johnston County Public Schools earning a school letter grade of A, B, or C by the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
The school district continues to struggle with filling vacancies. At the mid-point of the current school year, there were 374 vacancies. Of that number, 160 were for teacher assistants, 92 teachers, 45 exceptional children teachers, 43 custodians, and 7 mechanics.
The school board voted 5-to-1 to approve the $98.4 million proposed budget. School board member Michelle Antoine voted against the plan, because it did not include $8 million for an Art Center at Clayton High School. The Art Center was among the items promised during the passage of the 2018 School Bond Referendum, but was never built.
This property revaluation every four years instead of every eight years is working better than we ever thought it would in bringing in extra tax money! Jack those property values up and haul those hundreds of millions of dollars over to the school board where they should be, and let’s take care of these needy immigrant children that parents do so much in supporting our tax base income. Immigrants built this country and with our president open border policies this country progressing to being even stronger!
“Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands. No free and prosperous nation can by itself accommodate all those who seek a better life or flee persecution. We must share this responsibility with other countries.”
Ronald Reagan
Why do they all come here? Why can’t they come legally? I’m quite certain Reagan was talking about legal immigration not illegally entering our country. If people are willing to break the law to enter our country why do you think they will follow the law when they are here? Why are people coming from all countries (China, Afghanistan, Haiti, etc) through our wide open border? Why not apply for legal immigration? Who is housing, employing, schooling and paying for all these people when inflation is so high US citizens are struggling? When do American citizens get to be the priority for this government?
Ms. Jen R, can’t you see how this works? We have broken your FBI and your IRS to the point that it is now a justice system for our Democratic Party and a dealth sentence for you Republicans. The amount of human beings being brought across the border will ensure the Democratic Party will never again have to depend on the African American voting block again to hold onto power. The last great victory we are now putting into place is taxing you so-called American Citizens out of your homes in order to pay for the education and well being of these millions of so-called illegal imagrants. Ms. Jen R we will being seeing you and the likes of you homeless in the street’s before this is over? Rome has falling, again.
Who says all illegals will vote Dem? Latino folks are more than likely Republicans due to them having full functioning brains.
WOW — You have really drank the Kool-aid. Who is going to pay all those taxes to support all the people who don’t pay any????? Just like most democrats, you don’t know much about finance or math. When Rome falls, all of its people will suffer.
As President Reagan said, they come here to “seek a better life or flee persecution”. On Nov. 6, 1986 Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The Act’s most significant effect was that it allowed immigrants who had entered the U.S. illegally before Jan. 1, 1982 to apply for legal status, provided they paid fines and back taxes. This provision — which Reagan himself referred to as “amnesty,” allowed around 3 million immigrants to secure legal status.
Hay, school board, between higher food prices, higher gas prices, what else do you want to take away from me? I have a bag of chips that I got from the dollar tree; I will be happy to give that to you! As far as people coming from other countries, back in the day they weren’t trying to kill us. STOP BUILDING SCHOOLS! STOP LETTING PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES IN UNLESS IT IS THE WAY MY GRANDPARENTS CAME HERE!!!!!!
Wont happen until Plyler v. Doe (1982) is overturned.
Conservatives sure aren’t conserving money with this increase!!
That party is gone. The maga party is full on autocrat….wake up. They don’t legislate nor conserve… they just rule. If you can find the old fashioned ones that still believe in small government, please let me know. These new ones are all about getting into everyone’s lives with all these new laws banning everything… that is not small government. If we are not careful we will be the new Florida – which you might be okay with but small government Republicans will not.
You are describing the Democrats to a T.
Absolute joke. They have had at least 10 pages of job openings for the entire 22-23 school year. Those are budgeted and funded positions but we’re never filled. There should be plenty of money. On top of the COVID money never spent. Total scam.
Why not just pay the teachers what they deserve instead their making it look like their buying grades. So if you can’t make that child make a B then you don’t get a bonus. That’s bull crap. And why do the principals need more money. That’s a joke. Has anyone looked to see what they make. They have the easiest job in the school Teachers deserve higher pay than this crap
Problem is, principals mandate a child’s grades. Period. Most schools don’t allow lower than a 50 even if they do zero work (talk about socialism indoctrination) teachers will just give kids A’s to get paid more.
To Stupid: First, being a principal is NOT EASY. They put in a lot of hours and have A LOT of responsibility. Also, they have to address troubled children and their parents. The parents can be and are in a lot of cases worse than the kid. You have your entitled parent or the parent whose main objective is get a check for their child and keep them in generational poverty. It is one extreme to the other!
To both: The “A, B or C” that you refer to is based on state mandated test. Teachers can’t “give” a student anything.
It would pay to understand what you are talking about before you post such nonsense.
Most high schools have other people in place to deal with those parents and teachers so you’re wrong!!!!! Your right teachers can’t give them those grades but trust me Strings get pulled to make it happen. Parents and students and staff and coaches pull those strings You just took up for the principals but not once about the teachers and staff and their pay hmmmm? Maybe you’re a principal that only cares about yourself and not the staff and kids in your school? Lol Not all principles are like that but I can name 3 right now. 1 actually enforces a dress code and that same principal breaks the dress code Like I said pay these teachers what they deserve and worry about the principals another time
One more reason to end the public school system completely. Let parents manage (and pay) for their own child’s needs.
It’s really simple, they ask for 15 and if they’re lucky they’ll get somewhere between 5 and 10, is what really wanted in the first place
Total scam, the county commissioners are idiots if they approve this. There are principals who are intentionally using “permanent-subs” instead of hiring licensed teachers to save the county from having to pay for insurance and salary of a full time teacher. This is a fact. On top of which more students will be attending charter schools. ALA and Thales are expanding next year.
We have schools with no dependable HVAC and leaking roofs but crazy Michelle wants an Art Center. Let’s prioritize regardless of what was proposed previously. Some of the expenditures by JCPS on athletic turf and other less important items should never have happened when you have schools that need repairs. Go and Learn in a SmMS classroom for a week in August when the A/C is broken or January when the Heat is broken. Happens all the time and I’m sure teachers would confirm it if they could do so without retaliation from their administration. If we are going to to spend tax dollars, spend it wisely.
Where are these leaky roofs and broken HVAC’s? Have you notified the proper people to get them fixed?
Nope, teachers just sweat/freeze and we swim down the halls. Here’s your sign Rocky Mount.
Duh! Teachers sit in classrooms for weeks waiting on Maintenance or an ordered part. Then when a unit is fixed, it breaks again. It’s even funnier because SmMS received a new FLAT room that leaked almost immediately. Instead of an ignorant response, go talk to some Custodians that wake up early or come to school on Saturday to clean up flooded floors. Or get to know your JoCo Teachers to just deal with it because they have not real alternative.
Why aren’t teachers salaries being addressed here? Why aren’t they received a top notch salary? These are the people who are chosen to educate our future leaders and community members. Take a look around what our county is like now? Don’t you want better for our youth? TEACHERS DESERVE BETTER! And why are teachers aides being pay a salary that is below that of a gas station worker or cashier? This makes no sense. What’s Bracy’s salary? I bet it’s way more than any teachers. Just sad.
What salary do you suggest for teachers who only work 9 months a year and basically half days. And are you really comparing a person who runs the entire county to one school teacher. Are you teachers unaware of the pay prior to becoming a teacher.
Teachers are paid for 10 months and last I checked 8 hour day hasn’t been a half day since the 19th century.
Umm, teachers work ten months, and then are unpaid over the summer, despite many still doing work. Your kind of thinking is why people are avoiding the profession and why there’s a lot of vacancies. Why get an expensive degree only to get paid less than other professions that require the same education?
These are your new board members y’all voted for. Give yourself a pad on the back. They fooled you and tricked you. Next time vote on people who actually does things for kids and people and has a past of doin it
It wasn’t the board who requested the increase. I have a hard time understanding a 15% increase when there is a more than likely chance the numbers of enrollment will be down. Teachers are leaving in droves because of the poor working conditions. My neighbor used to teach but retired after they saw the direction the schools are headed after the 2020-2021 school year. The fact is principals care more score being a politician and less of being an educator out of fear the “ board will get a call”. 15% is ludicrous.
Proficiency scores down, money up! Maybe money isn’t the real issue?
Wake Up! No one wants to enter the profession anymore! Good teachers are leaving! If you can’t be a part of the solution, don’t be a part of the problem. Everything that was in place to attract to the profession has been taken away (Example: No more insurance in retirement). Everyone thinks that teachers have gotten all these raises. EVERYTIME any money is given something is taken. Do your research!
A lot of parents are satisfied with a child that makes a “D”. The state testing is a joke! We masked and kept children away from schools for over a year. There are some that still don’t think they should have to attend school. Parents don’t hold their kids accountable. Kids don’t think they should have homework and they don’t do it. One hour of instruction without studying or homework behind it, does absolutely nothing.
Our society is failing these kids!
You’re exactly right. Can’t attract top quality teacher or fill the vacancies by paying peanuts.
I’m well caffeinated, thank you. In 2016-2017, our school budget was $63M (local funds) and our non-proficiency scores were under 25%. Now, the budget is $86M for 2021-2022, and now it’s over 48%. See the pattern yet? Because it’s happening year after year.
The teachers aren’t leaving over pay specifically. They’re leaving because of the absolute insanity they have having to deal with from central office, the mindbendingly dumb curriculum which they are BOUND to, and dealing with absolutely checked-out parents who send their nonchalant children to school that are failing and driving scores down. There’s no leadership overall, and when the administration doesn’t have your back, then why stay?
It’s not about money, it’s about culture. The current culture of parents saying “I don’t have time to teach my children” (ie: help with homework) or even READ to their children is a primary stain that we’ve somehow got to correct. Parents absolutely must prioritize their children’s education. Without the parents caring, the kids aren’t going to care either.
You brought up some good points which are accurate, but I can assure you, the pay plays a huge role. It just isn’t worth it.
There is no amount of compensation, in my opinion, that makes up for horrible administration, policies, and uncaring parents. I don’t blame them for leaving at all, but pay does not appear to be the root cause of said exodus.
Wait until you see what they do about those proficiency scores. Ask a teacher about the remediation and retest plan.
Johnston County is the fastest growing country in the state at roughly 3.8% annually. The influx of new residents not only adds to the tax base, but also adds to the financial burden of schools, infrastructure, utilities, and more. The school budget should increase per year based off of nothing more than cost of living-inflation-increase, and estimated arrival of new students. Obviously there is more insight as to what larger projects may require more funding (i.e. new schools being built), but I would think the majority of budget increases could be tied to residential population increases.
I would agree, the cost of materials, food, utilities, etc have all increased significantly. So Must the budget
That’s all y’all ever worry about: teachers. Nooooo, you don’t give a da*n about the bus drivers taking your kids to school. Bus driver pay needs to be addressed, and not with the sorry 76 cent raise and having to wait 10 years for another 30-something cents. Drivers are simply disrespected and disregarded. Guys hauling trash make way more money.
You get $15+ and hour to drive the bus. If that’s not enough, go drive for the city of Durham or someone that provides you a better wage. Let the HS kids drive buses again instead of the ungrateful complainers that don’t know how to increase their living wage elsewhere. There are plenty of opportunities to make more money, go do it!
Parents should be taking their kids to school, not county employees. Kids have a constitutional right to education, but there’s no quality education on a bus…there are other types, but not quality.
It’s SATURDAY-NIGHT-LIVE !!!!
Reading these comments are exactly why so many great teachers are leaving the profession. You daily commentors on this page who obviously have nothing else of importance to do with your lives clearly are clueless with what is expected of a teacher.
99% of these comments are just 💩 typical JoCo mentally.
And that is what? What exactly is the “mentality” of joco?