Athens Drive Magnet High School PTSA

Helping to Make Athens Drive a Great School

Child Advocacy

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Hello Wake County leaders,

As you may know, the Wake County Board of Commissioners is in the process of reviewing public comment and information regarding their 2018-2019 budget.  Wake County Public Schools submitted a budget request of $58.9 million in additional funds for next year, with $11 million of that going towards new or expanding programs such as hiring more counselors, social workers and psychologists. and to support programming for academically and intellectually gifted students above the state allotments.

On May 16, the Wake County PTA Council Board of Directors passed a resolution in support of a minimum $48 million increase in funding.  Wake County staff had only proposed a $30 million increase for schools.   I presented this Resolution at the public comment hearing on May 21.

Our resolution read in part:

“In summary, Wake County PTA Council recommends that Wake County:
** Fund at least $48M of the school board’s request of $58.9M in additional funding to ensure that the current level of service for our 160,000 students is maintained
** Allocate an additional $18M over what is currently proposed by using existing and projected revenues and by using the county’s ample fund balance
** Put the School Bond Referendum on the November 6th ballot
** Begin a 3-year plan to hire school counselors and social workers at the nationally recommended student ratios
** Consider the expansion budget of $11M proposed by the school board to hire more counselors, social workers, and nurses and to also expand the number of children who can be served in the Academically Gifted Program. We urge Commissioners to find funds to increase both of these budget requests at some level. Our children desperately need these support services.”
The entire Resolution is in our Files in MemberHub here:  https://app.memberhub.com/download?r=106939&u=afxep2sn7ll
We encourage PTA units and members in Wake County to contact the Wake County Board of Commissioners between now and June 4 to express your support of the additional funding requested by WCPSS for 2018-2019.  Without the minimum $48 million increase, it is reasonable to assume that the school system would have to adjust its budget.  WCPSS has not specified how the budget would be adjusted but it could include hiring freezes, delaying maintenance, reducing positions or displacing staff.
The key reason for the increased funding are growth, the opening of four new schools, legislative impact of the state-mandated class size reduction and needed funding for special education, which was previously funded by a federal grant.
Please feel free to use our Resolution as a template for your own unit’s resolution, or simply adopt our resolution as your own.  Be sure your board of directors votes (with quorum) on the resolution.  Individual members can also submit comments to the commissioners, and we encourage you to use your voices to advocate for our students and for needed funding for our school system.  The Board of Commissioners will be voting on the budget on June 4 at 5 p.m.
Please let me know if you have any questions- thank you for your advocacy!
Julie von Haefen
President, Wake County PTA Council
president@wakepta.org