The Wayne County Board of Education held a budget work session on Thursday as the district works through a nearly $5 million fund balance deficit announced earlier this month.

As the district tries to set its new budget, Acting Finance Director Dr. David Lewis says per-pupil funding from the state is still not set.

Acting Superintendent Dr. James Merrill says the district is losing about $5 million in “recurring dollars,” which means those funds are being lost year-after-year.

Merrill also says the district may face a smaller student headcount this coming school year, meaning less per-pupil funding.

Dr. Merrill says the goals for balancing the budget include trying to protect individuals and programming.

One step to addressing the budget crunch will be increasing class sizes.

However, the district will only be able to increase the class sizes in grades 4 – 12 due to the state class size mandate on grades K – 3.

The district will also be able save $400,000 by making a few reductions to WCPS Central Services.

From the June 25 WCPS Budget Work Session