County Commissioners question expenses of per pupil spending reports

The Davidson County Board of Commissioners want to know exactly how much money
the local government gives to the three school districts in the county.
During their meeting on Monday, board chairman Todd Yates said he wanted the
commissioners to have a discussion on the total amount of local dollars being spent on
education after a statement made at a recent Davidson County school board meeting
claimed the county was 114 out of 115 in per pupil spending.

“There may be something out there that says that, but we’re not,” said Yates.
According to a report published by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, in 2022-
2023 Davidson County ranked 99 out of 116 counties in the state at $1,736 in per pupil
spending. This year Davidson County increased the per pupil spending to $2,118.
Davidson County Manager Casey Smith said the DPI report does not include several
important sources of funding provided by the county, such as the debt the county has
taken on to build several new schools, as well as, capital funding for major renovation
projects and providing infrastructure.

He said taking all local spending into consideration, Davidson County is closer to 69th in
overall spending, and that 58 cents out of every property tax dollar is given to the three
school districts.

“The department of public instruction has reports out there for a variety of things,” said
Smith “The report that was (mentioned) showed all sources of funds that includes
federal and state dollars as well, and we don’t receive a lot of that at a county level.
Relative to other places, we aren’t going to rank very high on this list.”
He said to get a better idea of the total amount of money given to the three school
districts, you have to look at local spending dollars. But even then, he said DPI doesn’t
include debt or other investments, such as Title I and Title II capital funding.
Smith presented the commissioners with a report he compiled from data from the North
Carolina Association of County Commissioners and the N.C. Department of Public
Instruction, which included any local funding earmarked for schools.
According to this report, Davidson County is 69th on the list of per pupil spending, but
ninth in the state in total percentage of tax revenue allocated to the school districts
(58%).

Smith also noted that there are several counties in the state who spend considerably
more per pupil but it does not seem to correlate with a better graduation rate or third-
grade reading proficiency. For example, according to this report, Durham County
spends $7,398 per pupil, but their graduation rate is ranked the same as Davidson
County, and their third-grade reading proficiency is actually slightly lower.
Several of the county commissioners remarked that there is no statewide report, other
than the one Smith compiled on his own, that gives a comprehensive overview of all
local spending dollars.

They suggested that the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners should
undertake providing local leaders with a report that takes all local spending into
consideration to give leaders a more comprehensive snapshot on how county dollars
are being spent on schools.