Scotland County Schools delivers spending plan to commissioners

LAURINBURG — Just two months into the job, Scotland County Schools’ Interim Superintendent Robert Logan delivered a presentation on a nearly $88 million spending plan for the upcoming 2023-23 fiscal year to Scotland County commissioners.

Scotland County typically appropriates $10 million for the school district.

”We need a little extra money, gentleman,” Logan said.

Logan presented a total budget of $87,975,38.11, nearly $12 million lower than the current year’s budget. The main reason for the drop is that the school district anticipates a significant loss in federal funding, just north of $11 million, Logan said.

The superintendent said the school district is asking the county for an additional $85,898 in local funds as well as an additional $254,135 added to the $300,000 capitol outlay allotment.

Ultimately, the county commissioners came to the decision to appropriate the usual amount, because that is what was requested months ago, according to Chairman Tim Ivey.

Ivey said that he does not believe the $300,000 will “make or break” the school district.

“That’s just business,” Commissioner John Alford said.

During his presentation, Logan told commissioners of the budget challenges the school district faces this cycle; some being funding salary increases for locally paid teachers to match the state increase, inflation and an increase in utility costs.

“We’re anticipating that our utility cost can go up as much as 80% by 2023-23,” Logan said.

Senate Bill 406 is a looming threat to the school district, Logan said. The bill, titled “Choose your school, Choose your future,” makes all North Carolina K-12 students “eligible for opportunity scholarships, with grant amounts based on household income and provide students the option to complete all high school requirements within three years and offer a two-semester scholarship to students graduating within three years that would be equal to the amount the student would have received in an opportunity scholarship,” according to the bill’s summary.

“If this bill passes it can transfer between $200 million to $300 million from funds that have typically gone to public schools that will now go over to private schools. It’s a voucher system. It’s the payment of a voucher system by our General Assembly. That’s going to have an impact on school districts, all 114 of them,” Logan said.

Exceptional Children Services is also a budget challenge.

“The school district has a disproportionate number of special needs children. Typically, a school district will have somewhere between 12 to 14 to 15%. Scotland County has 18.1% of our children identified as exceptional, special needs,” Logan said.

Logan said that the state funds the school districts statewide at a rate of 12.5%.

“Those are the funds we receive to pay for just that percentage,” Logan said. “The additional services we have to provide for local dollars.”

Poorly managed funds

During his presentation, Logan sought to eliminate the misconception about the school district’s funds and how they were managed.

“I want to put a different term in your encyclopedia of thinking … I want to use the term, rather than mismanagement, poorly managed or poor decisions made, nothing illegal has taken place with the school district’s funds that staff has been able to, that the leadership has been able to identify at this point,” Logan said.

Logan said leadership has learned that funds have been used in ways that should be reconciled.

He admitted that the fund balance has been reduced from about $2.5 million to $500,000. The money went to the Exceptional Children’s Program; teacher supplement compensation; all employees staying on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic, including bus drivers and monitors, custodians and teacher’s assistants despite not working during that time; and the debt service on South Johnson Elementary School, Logan shared.

Logan said that these funds were not mismanaged but a different superintendent, such as himself, would have made alternate decisions in some cases.

“The money was not mismanaged, it wasn’t illegally managed,” Logan said. “It’s just, would I have made all those decisions?”

Paying employees during the pandemic, yes; funding teaching supplements, no, Logan said.

A better future

To ensure a stronger budget in the future, the school district is reviewing all vendor contracts, implementing best financial practices and protocols, hiring a new finance officer, reviewing and reconciling staffing with state allocations, monitoring state funds and obtaining grants, Logan told commissioners.

Commissioners commended Logan on what they said was the best budget presentation they’ve received from the school district.

Alford said that he presented a “budget that we could understand and there was no ambiguity. I appreciate it.”

“My goal is always transparency,” Logan said.