By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com
For the third time in less than a year, Lee County’s board of commissioners and board of education are set to meet to try for a settling of the conflicts that have kept them at loggerheads since last year.
The two boards will meet 6 p.m. Wednesday at the McSwain Center on Tramway Road.
There’s a lot at stake on the outcome of this meeting. Other, more routine, items between the two boards have been tabled until the conflict over educational funding in Lee County gets resolved. But if past results are any indication – the boards have met twice already since July of 2024 – the meeting may or may not lead to measurable progress.
What this is all about
The county’s two publicly elected bodies have met twice before on how they might resolve the issues related to education funding – in March and again last July of 2024 – and no real progress was made.
Like much of what happens in politics, the chapters in this story are about power and influence: Who has it and who wants it, who has control over the purse strings, and – perhaps most importantly – who started the mess to begin with and which side now needs to be the one that will give up first so progress made toward a solution.
The commissioners have argued that funds generated through the county’s tax base aren’t unlimited and that while the county has historically provided more funding to its system of public schools than has been requested, there are almost two dozen other departments that need to be adequately funded if Lee County is to continue to grow in ways that balance new industry with its rural heritage.
The school board, meanwhile, has continued to insist that over the past four years, the commissioners have ignored the specific expansion budget items the district has requested based on extensive planning and needs analysis, choosing instead to allocate just a fraction of the requested increase and leave it up to the school board how and where to spend that money.
Additionally, a political groundswell from the school district’s classified employees in recent months – those like instructional assistants, library and office staff, maintenance and custodial workers (many of whom pull double duty as bus drivers) – over compensation has increased tension between the two boards.
The school board is wary of enticements being offered by the commissioners for a joint county and school bus maintenance facility, a plan put forth by the county that would involve the school board transferring ownership of the abandoned Jonesboro Elementary School property for construction of the garage with no concessions or guarantees by the commissioners for any greater compensation for the school board.
It’s this differing of opinions that has prevented any serious discussion on how to resolve this logjam and move on. Instead, the logs here are continuing to back up the river, and unless they can be removed safely soon, other areas where the two have collaborated for years will also begin to see signs of strain from the lack of conversation and a willingness to compromise.
The last of the six items on the agenda for that joint session is “Expectations from County Commissioners of School Board.” That broad heading could include any number of contentious topics.
All this takes on even more urgency because of constraints placed by this year’s calendar. The school board has already held budget planning sessions with its staff and is planning to submit its proposal for FY 2025-26 before the end of April. For the county’s part, it also has been very engaged in its budget for the next fiscal year since before the Christmas holiday break. Another breakdown in talks could wreck all that progress and force the two to start again at some point that would have to be determined.
Maybe , an outside source s/b brought in to help decide this & get it over , any ideas ?
Only an absolute utter fool and idiot, would have two devisive combative nonsensical group of morons, make decisions such as this. If there must be two groups for such, that proves neither is to be trusted or can be trusted. The low low pathetic IQ’s of this kind of delusional leadership, prove their lack of ability to be figures of authority of any nature! It is much like having someone watch the babysitter. If you cannot get anyone to care for the kids and trust them, GET RID of her and do it yourself (as voters). Once again, the puppets on a string allow morons to guide them and screw up their lives, regardles of what it is —– The more you pull the strings on the puppets, the more the puppets dance (voters) and love it. What happened to maturity, responsibility and discipline? Why are you puppets so sad, weak and patheic – that you must have someone tell you what is right or wrong, or, what you can and cannot do
Some of this is the result of private schools taking public school money. The political capital that is tied up in the private school is no longer brought to bear on the School Board or the Commissioners – effectively removing 20 or so percent from the pie who are unaffected by an impasse. When it’s no longer everyone’s school system that’s a long term problem.
The school board is given the lion’s share of the budget without exacting economic responsibility or clarity. They get 70-80% of the budget promising to pay the teachers, bus drivers, custodians and the rest then turn around find more important things to waste the tax money.
And the misappropriation of funds??
Enough already ….