WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The New Hanover County School board passed the 2024-2025 school year budget at an emergency meeting held Thursday. The budget outlines how to spend the $5.5 million the district is receiving from the county.

The decision comes after months of trying to make ends meet with a $20 million budget shortfall.

Board member Stephanie Kraybill says the hope is personnel will stay the same.

“The goal is to not have to, you know, cut any people specifically. We did hear that there will be some positions eliminated through attrition or through moving people,” Kraybill said.

To help keep staff, the district will use more than $5 million from the county to make that a reality.

Board member Stephanie Walker says while she’s glad the board made a decision, the budget is less than ideal.

“It’s a little frustrating, you know, especially around budget time, knowing what you can and can’t do,” Walker said. “If I had my way, we would fully fund our schools.”

State-mandated salary increases, a loss in pandemic-era funding and money for charter schools and scholarships left the district in a tight spot.

Walker says public school students will ultimately feel the impact.

“The less we have, the less we can spend on positions, and that really does hurt public schools,” Walker said. “It’s going to be kind of tough to see what we have to trim.”

There’s no timeline on when decisions will be made on moving positions or job cuts, but for now, a budget is in the books.

While there were concerns about payroll issues if the budget was not passed by the July 1 deadline, board members say no employees would be going without their paychecks.

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