Guilford County parents, students, school board members and other advocates of public education showed up in force to ask the nine Guilford County commissioners to give Guilford County Schools more money than Guilford County Manager Mike Halford is calling for in his proposed fiscal 2024-2025 budget.
The county commissioners have the ultimate say on the budget, which the board is expected to adopt on Thursday, June 20.
School advocates were appreciative that the county commissioners and the county’s voters were willing to take on $2 billion in debt to build and repair schools; however, they argued that that money couldn’t be used for many of the school system’s needs.
Halford’s budget did not provide nearly enough money, they said, for yearly repairs to schools – and certainly not enough for school operations such as salaries and paying the utility bills.
Before the meeting, the school advocates marched through downtown Greensboro banging drums and chanting loudly. Then there was a rally in front of the Old Guilford County Court House just prior to the start of the Thursday, June 6 commissioners meeting that began at 5:30 p.m..
When the public hearing on Halford’s budget started, the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the Old Guilford County Court House was packed with people supporting more school funding, and many of them spoke for their allotted two minutes. By the time it was all over, every commissioner had had an earful.
One of the final speakers broke down in tears as she spoke of the need for the Board of Commissioners to provide Guilford County Schools with more funding.
Almost all of the speakers who spoke on Halford’s proposed budget addressed school funding.
Guilford County Board of Education Member Linda Welborn came and addressed the commissioners. She said that, even though the schools had $2 billion in money for capital projects, Halfords 2024-2025 budget didn’t provide enough for routine maintenance.
“We cannot use that bond money to patch a roof,” Welborn said during her two-minute speech.
Another speaker called Halford’s $2.5 million capital allocation for the entire school system “absolutely ridiculous.”
A brand-new teacher said he was already burnt out after one year in the school system due to the conditions at his school.
“Our teachers need help,” he pleaded, “Our students need better conditions.”
This year, the Guilford County school board requested a $55.5 million increase for the school system’s operating and capital budgets for fiscal 2024-2025, which begins July 1.
However, Halford’s recommended budget calls for the county to give the schools an increase of $8.3 million.
The Board of Commissioners could increase that amount and that’s exactly what the members in the audience asked them to do.
Of the $8.3 million increase proposed for the coming fiscal year, the county is allocating just over $5.87 million for school operations – for things like salaries, paying heating bills, etc., while the $2.5 million is provided for capital projects such as building repairs and buying new HVAC units.
In his annual budget message to the commissioners last month, Halford stated that “Normal revenue growth next year will not support the more than $55.5 million operating and capital budget increase that’s been requested by the Board of Education.”
The $55.5 million is the increase requested by the school system. The recommended county budget includes $266 million for Guilford County Schools’ operating budget.
Roughly 45 percent of the county’s budget goes to education – that is, Guilford County Schools and, to a much smaller degree, Guilford Technical Community College.
County commissioners argue that they have plenty of needs to provide for other than the schools.
Many speakers acknowledged that the current board has been very good in recent years in regard to school funding.
“I know you fought for public schools in the past,” one speaker said of the current Democrat-majority board. “Do it again.”
“Thank you for your generosity,” another said, “We need you to be more generous.”
Some school system employees said they had no money for sports programs or even money to turn their school stadium lights on at night.
One speaker asked the board to think about the importance of the children.
“Eventually, these kids are going to become our future, the ones taking care of us,” she said.
A teacher told the board that “classified employees,” such as cafeteria workers, janitors and bus drivers, come to her frequently and say, “I have to quit.  I can’t pay my bills. I don’t make enough money.”
In the past years, the Board of Commissioners has traditionally thrown in extra millions of dollars for Guilford County Schools on top of the amount recommended by the manager; however, it’s not yet clear whether that will happen this time around.
They never stop talking about money.
But they never talk about education.
That tells you what their scam is really all about.
The school system is a bloated monopoly, pure and simple. . .and it’s not only “for the children” as they say, but for the union of teachers and staff. Having a friend who worked in the system, she said they have “WAY” too many people in various roles, many of which are duplicative to ensure friends of friends are hired and promoted, many of which are based on political leanings and race. The various administrations are afraid to fire or demote anyone due to political repercussions, which tells you it’s set up to be an employment and political block. They also work against the freedom to privatize the school system since there’s tons of them invested in the current scheme of management. In effect, they believe government (and their unions) should be the ones providing education. . .or indoctrination.
Remember. . .school employees are a voting block, so the louder they holler, the more likely commissioners will acquiesce to their complaints. . . .which helps ensure they get their votes in school board and county commissioner elections. See how this works?
Yep!
As with all government and Parasitic Sector entities, they exist to satisfy their own needs, not those of the people they pretend to serve.
That is why they’re utterly determined to destroy any competition. Privately run schools will be chosen every time over the incompetent, indifferent, indoctrinating Government Schools.
Meanwhile Skip Alston continues to provide taxpayer money to the Civil Rights Museum whenever he chooses. He is, after all, a founder of the museum and evidently immune from any conflict of interest in directing donations be made to his organization. The County Commissioners have approved $1 million, plus $200,000 a year for five years. And Skip Alston was evidently so convincing that he was able to direct the City Council to follow him by providing an extra $1 million along with $250,000 a year for four years. The boldness of Skip Alston continued when he recently provided $50,000 to the Dudley High School Booster Club while ignoring all other Guilford County schools. Color obviously matters to him. These are the types of actions that build long-remembered legacies for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners and the Greensboro City Council. As a taxpayer, I hope you won’t forget how you have been treated by those in leadership positions at the next election.
Andy Rooney said the problem was dumb kids and dumb parents. Whatever you want to call it, throwing money at it won’t make it any better. We need to be rid of govt schools, and indoctrination of our children.
These no-nothings will be running the Country soon enough. You can see it all around us right now.
So 45% of the county’s budget is drained off by an incompetent and indifferent government monopoly school system.
Well, they’re not indifferent when it comes to their budget. Only when it comes to the education they provide to my kids – which is crap.
So it goes with government monopolies.
“Gimme da Money!”
It’s sick. Just sick.
But Al. . . .don’t you know their request is for. . . .”the children” and if they don’t get the money then the sky will fall?
The simple answer is there will never be a situation in which the people in the school system are satisfied and decide to not request more money every year. And “that’s a fact Jack!”
…. And it’s “en masse”, Scott, not in mass. The latter might be a term used in Physics lessons in high school.
I don’t know, the picture looks like a church service to me, and they are praying to their gods, aren’t they? Bless us, oh lord, with other people’s money. It’s for the children.
For the “educators”, money is indeed their god. It’s all they ever talk about.
Have you ever heard an “educator” talk about educating children?
Betting the commissioners fold like a deck of cards. Give them no more money and have them work with what you’ve bugeted. The tax payers have no more and are struggling too. Also betting the average tax payer won’t quit their job since they can’t pay their bills like the ” classified employee” stated. Not surprised.
I applaud both your responses, very well said. No accountability seems endemic to not just the school system but both the City and County governments.
Yeah! Just fire everybody. I’m sure enough of us Rhino Times readers will volunteer to work for free and well due a better job teaching stuff.
Until school systems divest from sports funding who can take requests for money seriously? Sell the fields, cut off the lights, fire the Coaches , athletic directors and folks who do field maintenance, and let local organizations like recreation centers, the Y, little league, pop warner, or others provide sports opportunities. Subsided sports for the wealthiest students should be the lowest priority or should be completely eliminated. Until the do they really need more funds ?
Do you know what a non sequitur is?
What part of the school system do you work in, Einstein?
A nonsequitur is when the hose don’t work.
Broken record checking in- What happened to all the money that the “Education Lottery” was supposed to generate and solve the financial word of public so-called education??
Good point Joelfarm, but the Government School System is a financial Black Hole.
That was a lie too. . .and the politicians who voted for it received compensation, , ,er um. . . .donations to the various political campaigns. See how this works?
You’re kidding, right? That was a scam from the start.
Government and their lawyers cannot be trusted with taxpayer money. Regardless of the amount, more money is always requested by the Board of Education, school administrators, and school personnel. There are systemic problems in the Guilford school system. Until the problems are identified and fixed, no more money. The Guilford County Board of Education and County Commissioners paid $90,000 per acre for land to build an unnecessary school. At top end, the land was worth $45,000 per acre. There is no accountability for decisions made. Money can be spent willy-nilly when it is not the Commissioners’ money, but taxpayer money extracted from the taxpayer through property taxes and sales taxes. Vote NO on a sales tax increase in November. Stop the madness of higher and higher taxes for Commissioners to spend on projects that the taxpayers in Guilford County would not choose to support with their tax money.
As bad a shape that Guilford County schools seem to be in, just look one county over in Alamance County. That school system is a disaster in many ways. As well, to our south, in Davidson County, the schools are suspending certain students while others are allowed to do the very thing he was ‘guilty’ of.(Free speech)
So, all in all, Guilford County schools are just financially inept.
Guilford County schools are more than financially inept. They are just better at hiding what really goes on in the schools.
“In Mass”?
I thought they had shown up at a Catholic Church!
Give me more money.
I already give you a lot of money.
But other people doing my job get more money, see the statistics.
Yeah, but they want more money too. They should get less money.
Give more spend more! It never ends,they never look for places to cut spending!
“Pity to fool” who asks for more taxpayer money. These “advocates” were assembled by the LEFT to tax us to death (& submission to those who know better for us).
Indeed, why not give them more money. The education ” community” gets 42% of all revenue and we get, what? Graduates who are unable to form a simple, declarative English sentence much less a cogent essay or paragraph, make change and when speaking cannot distinguish between the subjective or objective case.
So if we give them more, then things will get “more better” ?
Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.
I think Skip away with your money Alston and Early to rob you blind Jones and all the rest of Guilford County and City leaders should give up those large raises they recently received and give that to the schools. But they won’t because, well, you know, greed and all that. So that leaves 2 words…. Education Lottery. Where is the lottery money that’s supposed to be given to the schools? I would really love to see financials for that. I want to see where the money is going and how much each school is getting. Betting someone has new homes, cars, etc. Our taxes should not be increased because of our schools! It should no longer be the responsibility of the public to provide money to the school system. Especially considering the garbage that they’re teaching the children nowadays. All they are doing is teaching them to hate their bodies. To rebel against their parents. That they don’t have to do what their parents say, they only do what the school says to do. Schools should never have authority over our children. Especially when it’s our money paying the schools and keeping them up! But no, they would rather teach them to change their gender. To be gay. To no longer believe in God. That if their parent does not agree with them, just have them locked up. Our school system in North Carolina has rotted away from the inside out. And it keeps rotting. I don’t think any of our money should go to the school system any longer. Let them find a way to keep going. Parents should homeschool their children. But anyway it goes, why is that education Lottery money not going to the schools? The whole reason that Lottery was established was to provide for the North Carolina schools. If the schools are not getting the money, then who is that Lottery providing for? The leaders of each city? The County commissioners of each county? The mayor of each county? Or would that be our illustrious Governor Roy Pooper? Something sure does smell fishy in the state of North Carolina and it’s not the coastline.
Pat, I remember loooong ago when “they” demanded we take all references to Christianity and the Bible out of public schools. Only bedrock, fundamental Christians opposed that import action. One of our arguments was that if you take God out of the schools, SOMETHING is going to replace Him.
You now see what we have reaped.