New Hanover school district adds over $1 million back into budget for needed positions

New Hanover County Schools Interim Superintendent Chris Barnes recently announced that funding will soon allow for more positions being added back into classrooms throughout the district.

These positions come from $1.26 million being approved by the board of education to be put back into the budget. The money was accumulated through the freezing of vacant positions and spending, which was initiated in March, according to Barnes, when the district was facing a $20 million budget shortfall.

The surplus is also due to faster than projected attrition of positions, Barnes said.

Barnes said he asked all the principals in the district to list their needs and then order them by what is most important. Here are the positions that will be added based on that information:

• Over $600,000 will go toward hiring 13 new special education teacher assistants. Over $90,000 will go toward an assistant principal position that will be split between Bradley Creek Elementary and Williams Elementary. A sixth counselor will be added to Laney High, with over $80,000, because it is the largest high school.
• Another $60,000 will be added to help ensure people who cover during their planning period get a stipend. Another $12,000 will be added for testing coordinator stipends at Isaac Bear Early College High, Southeast Area Technical High and Wilmington Early College.
• Over $150,000 will also be dedicated to two special education teacher allotments and over $80,000 will be dedicated to two bus aides for Lake Forest Academy and J.C. Roe Center.

Barnes also made a commitment that the district would not take any money out of its fund balance this school year, but also that the district should not put a lot in it as of now due to the district’s immediate staffing needs.

Q&A: New Hanover's interim school superintendent talks about building trust, relationships

Listening tour findings

Barnes also presented findings from his listening tour with 27 schools and seven departments. He said he was able to interact face-to-face with approximately 2,300 staff members.

Since the district’s climate survey revealed in July overwhelmingly negative feedback from staff in the district, Barnes started his listening tour to hear how the district can improve.

Barnes took feedback from the climate change survey and then formulated questions to ask staff on his listening tour. Here are the themes and feedback from his visits:

What needs to change immediately?

Barnes found that teachers are made to feel they do not know how to teach, that the district wasn’t asking for input before making decisions and that micromanaging from district administration does not show trust in teachers.

Improving communication response times across divisions, explanation of requests and including all departments in the principals' meetings so each department can be heard are ways staff said transparency and communication could be improved from administration’s end.

Staff also requested that the administration visit schools more often, while also being genuine about it and not just going for photo opportunities. They requested that administration take time to engage with staff and students, that the board and central office need to have hands-on experience and active participation to see the reality in the classrooms, while also observing more and providing less feedback.

The board of education was also a topic as staff said that board decisions should not be politically motivated, and the focus should be on the education of the students. Staff also said the board shows an insulting lack of trust in the staff’s expertise and that staff is expecting changes to the board based on what was expressed in the survey.

Teachers said they are also losing flexibility to implement curriculum by using the art of their teaching and their expertise in individual student situations.

More: Teacher survey paints negative picture of what it's like working in New Hanover County schools

What's working for the district?

Staff said meetings with open discussion, weekly leadership updates, districtwide instructional focus, support from counselors and social workers, executive directors, ability to establish relationships and provide continuity with school leadership, local salary supplement, town halls and beginning teacher orientation are all things that are working great in the district already.

What are the districts biggest stumbling blocks?

Staff reductions, loss of planning periods to lunch and recess duties due to budget cuts, loss of paraeducators, last-minute cuts overwhelming staff and state allotments not being equal to needs are all stumbling blocks that keep the district from reaching its fullest potential, according to staff.

“Our budget and our funding is a huge issue for our students,” Barnes said. “The fact that the ESSER funding ended, but student needs did not is something we have to wrestle with every day.”

Staff also said there’s a more negative focus from the district and from the media and that there is a lack of recognition for the good things happening in the county.

What's next?

Barnes developed an initial response plan that includes involving principals in decision making, providing budget and staffing updates, increasing communication with all stakeholders and reducing staff stress by minimizing changes.

“We now have the scope of the problem,” Barnes said. “This is just the beginning, and trust takes time to grow. What I’m asking for is the opportunity to prove to you that these things are our plans and that just takes time.”

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Hanover school district adds over $1 million back into budget for needed positions