CHARLOTTE – The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education approved a proposed $352.3 million budget for 2011-2012 at its May 10 meeting, including an extra $50 million not in the superintendent’s budget to help prevent cuts in staffing and key programs.

The budget request, which will go to Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones on May 15, seeks a total of $352.3 million in funding from the county. At an earlier Board meeting, some members supported asking the county for an additional $50 million more than the initial proposal put forward by Superintendent Peter Gorman. That $50 million will spare the district from making cuts in weighted-student staffing, the Bright Beginnings prekindergarten program, teacher assistants and an increase in class size.

The district budget request to the county also includes $3.4 million to cover an expected growth of 2,500 students and $21.9 million to cover the costs of sustaining operations. It is slightly more than the county funding provided to CMS in 2008-2009 of $351.4 million.

“This is a process,” Dr. Gorman said in a press release. The budget for CMS will not be final until the state completes its budget, which is probably several weeks away. In 2010-2011, CMS received more than half of its funding from the state.
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