Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools has officially paid off the portion of its debt owed to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction after receiving millions of dollars in community donations.
The Winston-Salem Foundation established a WS/FCS Futures Fund just over a week ago to raise money for the district’s outstanding debt.
So far, it’s received more than $3.6 million, the bulk of which cleared the district’s state debt. When Interim Superintendent Catty Moore made the announcement at a school board meeting, board and audience members cheered.
“I mean, that's just an amazing effort," Moore said.
Those funds will have an impact on other debt, too. Commissioners agreed to reduce what the district owes the county by however much it raises privately to pay off other dues. That means the $5 million county debt is now down to about $1.4 million.
Additionally, the school board entered into a controversial custodial services contract that will erase the district’s outstanding $4.2 million debt to SSC Services For Education over a ten-year period.
The district has already been contracting with the company for 34 schools. Around 200 in-house custodial employees clean the others.
The new contract will cost nearly $17 million a year. It greatly expands the company’s services and reduces district staff.
At a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, several speakers shared concerns about the custodial employees who will be losing their jobs. SSC has agreed to offer them employment. But the transition, should they accept, will mean a change in benefits.
“I fear they will not stay when they are not allowed to continue with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, and I don't blame them," said Madelyn Hughes, a school library media coordinator. "Custodians played literally no role in this budget crisis, and it should not be that we pay down our debt by asking them to do the same work without the benefits of being state employees.”
Other speakers and board members noted that in previous years, the district had issues with the company’s performance and school cleanliness.
Chief Operations Officer Lauren Richards says that while the contract is for ten years, it’s renewed annually and could be cut short. But that would mean the entirety of the debt won’t be erased. Whatever’s left would be due on the termination date.
Richards says the district will send letters to custodial staff about next steps in the coming days.
“We will schedule individual meetings with staff members to walk them through what the transition and the process would look like," Richards said. "And set up meetings for each one of them to be able to meet with the representative of SSC to receive the offer letter from them and to have an opportunity to make that selection.”
The district will be allowed to keep up to 35 staff members on its payroll. Currently, there are about 187.
Between the donations and the new custodial contract, the district has knocked more than $11 million off its total owed to vendors.
Moore says she’s confident the district can find another few million in the budget to continue debt payments through June.
Another cost-saving measure the Board of Education took last night was closing Cook Literacy Model School.
Officials say the school is underenrolled and in need of major renovations. The district will rezone residential students to Ashley, Brunson and Kimberley Park Elementary.
Board members said they’ll work to preserve the school’s history and engage the Boston Thurmond community on the future use of the facility.
Preliminary ideas include making it a daycare or recreation center.