Wake County Schools Reverse Special Ed Cuts

0:00Wade County School Superintendent Robert Taylor has reversed course on a proposed $18 million cut to special education funding. The plan, which would have eliminated 130 teaching positions, drew fierce pushback from school board members during a marathon, five hour meeting this week. The cuts stem from the district running out of carryover funds from federal grants used to cover ongoing special education roles. Administrators had warned that without adjustments for the upcoming 26-27 school year, the budget would run dry mid-year. They suggested shifting some federal positions to local funding and tweaking teacher to student ratios to stay within state limits. Protests erupted outside schools with parents and educators demanding leaders protect vulnerable students. Board members grilled staff on conflicting information, lack of early warnings, and what they called mismanagement, questioning why the public learned about the shortfall so late. Details of the proposal included higher caseloads for cross-categorical resource teachers

1:02at all grade levels, plus spacing out specialized. Kindergarten and middle school programs due to certification issues. Officials stressed that individual education plans for students would remain unchanged, regardless of funding shifts. Taylor won't revise his April 7 budget presentation in time, but he'll offer alternatives for the board to weave into their May approval before. Sending it to county commissioners, aiming to safeguard services without balancing the budget on special needs kids. I'm Corey with the story. That's your Durham News Today update. AI powered and always on.