Carteret County organization calls for community help in response to school funding

BEAUFORT, N.C. (WNCT) — Carteret County Schools officials said they asked county commissioners for a $2.8 million budget increase this year.

They said rising costs means they need more money to support positions and programs from last year. The system was only approved for a $1.5 million budget increase, leaving about a $1.3 million shortfall.

“My board is extremely committed to supporting the school system in anything that they need. And so when they approached us asking for help, we took it to the drawing board as to what would be the best avenue to help,” Development Director of the Carteret County Public Schools Foundation Erica Jones said.

The foundation decided to fund one position and are raising $70,000 to cover the cost of salary and benefits for the Big Rock Fellowship Teacher.

“We felt it was attainable for us to focus this year on just being able to fund the teacher that we’ve been responsible for putting into the system in terms of through the Big Rock teaching scholarship program as a way to, at least sort of, help bridge the gap with this situation and just do our part to sort of contribute,” Jones said.

Superintendent with Carteret County Public Schools Richie Paylor were unavailable for interview but responded with a statement reading “We thank the Foundation for continuously supporting our school system since their founding in 2004 and more actively since 2010. A lot of people don’t realize how much the Foundation assists our schools, especially in crisis situations like hurricanes and resourcing regularly, through donors, scholarships, extra innovative academic programs or assistance for students and staff members in crisis. The foundation has never raised funds to pay for the salaries of educators, and to do so to assist us this year, even for one teacher for one year, the first Big Rock Teaching Fellow to join our staff after graduating on scholarship, is commendable. All of our teaching and support positions are critical, however, and every amount helps.”

The district’s Chief Communications Officer Jennifer Perryman said nobody will be losing their job because of the shortfall, but it means several vacant positions won’t be filled. That means they will be understaffed compared to a year ago.

The foundation has never raised funds in the past to pay for salaries of teachers but leaders with the school system said the effort to help this year is commendable.

“Our teachers are our future for our youth,” Jones said. “And so it’s very important that we continue to show the youth of Carteret County that we’re here for them, that we’re committed to their careers as teachers.”

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