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Mecklenburg County public leaders are objecting to a formula that determined emergency funding to combat the COVID-19 pandemic fallout, claiming they are being shorted.
According to an April 13 WFAE 90.7 report, the State Board of Education in March voted about how to allocate $50 million in emergency state aid, which would cover emergency meals, child care, remote learning and cleaning schools.
Members of Mecklenburg’s legislative delegation objected after learning the formula to award the money made 99 of 100 counties eligible for “low-wealth” funding, except Mecklenburg County, according to the report. The board voted to distribute $25 million based on enrollment. In the end, because of the formula, Mecklenburg County received $2.4 million.
“That meant Mecklenburg County got $2.4 million, second only to Wake’s $2.6 million,” the WFAE report noted.
The remaining $25 million was distributed using what was described as a novel approach to the state’s low-wealth formula, according to the report. Normally, the formula attempts to ensure that smaller counties with lower tax bases receive extra money, leaving the larger and wealthier counties to use local resources. The figuring provided for low-wealth aid to counties except for the wealthiest county, Mecklenburg.
“Wake and Guilford counties, for instance, each got an additional $1.2 million in low-wealth aid,” the report said. “In the Charlotte region, Iredell, Catawba, Cabarrus, Union and Lincoln counties all got low-wealth aid despite falling above the state average on wealth.”
State Superintendent Mark Johnson said the plan came from State Board of Education Chair Eric Davis of Charlotte and Board member J.B. Buxton of Raleigh.
Davis, a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) board chair, said Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper asked the board of education to use a formula that accounts for low-wealth or poverty.
CMS board member Rhonda Cheek says she’s not satisfied with Davis' explanation. She asked Davis to state if they’re satisfied that each county got its fair share, and if not, how they’ll fix it, the WFAE report said.
Davis told WFAE a different formula that uses student poverty levels will be used to distribute federal aid to schools.
That’s expected to total about $350 million for local districts, the report added.
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