Tuesday, July 7 was the first day of school for almost forty elementary and middle schools in the Wake County Public School System.
And on Tuesday, July 7, WCPSS was operating on an interim budget because the North Carolina General Assembly has not finalized a budget for the 2015-2016 year.
There are many funding questions that remain, and some are more substantial than others. Almost forty elementary and middle schools opened with the similar numbers of teaching assistants that they employed last school year. One budget proposal reduces 8,500 teaching assistant positions across the state in the next two years. If major reductions are made, these schools will have to adjust after starting the year.
WCPSS has not suspended driver’s education offerings, even though a decision has yet to be made on funding. Other school districts are not conducting driver’s education courses this summer.
Last week House Speaker Moore named eighty-two conferees to work on budget negotiations with the Senate. The Senate named thirty-two conferees.
Wake County is represented well. Seven of eleven Wake representatives and three of five Wake senators are among the conferees named.
A list is provided below. Legislator names are linked to email addresses.
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Wake Delegation – Budget Conferees |
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House of Representatives |
Senate |
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| Nelson Dollar, Senior Chair | Paul Stam | John Alexander |
| Marilyn Avila, Vice Chair | Duane Hall | Chad Barefoot |
| Chris Malone, Vice Chair | Darren Jackson | Tamara Barringer |
| Brig. Gen. Gary Pendleton |