Edgecombe County Public SchoolsTHE KEYS TO SUCCESS: HOME, SCHOOL, COMMUNITY

March 16, 2017

Honorable Gov. Roy CooperNorth Carolina Office of the Governor20301 Mail Service CenterRaleigh, NC 27699 – 0301

Dear Gov. Cooper:

Edgecombe County Public Schools continues to suffer from devastating effects caused by Hurricane Matthew when the storm hit on October 8, 2016. As you are aware, our school system lost eight (8) days of instruction at thirteen of our school campuses, with thirteen (13) days of instruction lost at Princeville Elementary School. We are most appreciative of the legislative efforts, as well as the efforts led by the Office of the Governor in providing relief to our school system with the added flexibility in making up the instructional time lost.

We are immensely grateful for your efforts in visiting our communities in Edgecombe and the dedication that you have shown to improving the lives of our citizens, our students and teachers, and North Carolina.

Just last week, our leadership team was privileged to meet with members of your staff, including Dempsey Benton and Ryan Flynn. During this meeting our leadership team was asked what areas of assistance we needed from the State to assist Edgecombe County Schools with our recovery efforts. The items that we need legislative and gubernatorial assistance with, which were shared with your staff, include the following:

(1) Funding to cover $300,000 of transportation costs associated with busing students that continue to be displaced from Edgecombe County to their schools of origin within our District.

(2) Request legislative action to hold harmless our ADM (Average Daily Membership) allocation to our ADM at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year of 5988. Additional supports from the State, including raises, bonuses, and benefit increases would need to be in addition to our hold harmless provision request.

(3) Restore Low Wealth and At-Risk Student Services funding with an additional $460,778 (Low Wealth reduced by $329,460 and At Risk Student Services reduced by $131,318; totaling $460,778).

The rationale for these requests are vested in our mission to provide for the best, highest quality education possible for our students. In addition, the request made for transportation costs in item

412 PEARL STREET - TARBORO N C 27886 - TELEPHONE 252-641-2600 – FACSIMILIE 252-641-5714 - www.ecps.us - AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER -

(1) are not covered by FEMA, insurance, or other sources of funding, and instead, will be incurred by our local budget. We have instituted these transportation methods to insure that our students that reside outside of our county are able to return to their home schools to have some semblance of normalcy to their lives, in the midst of the destruction that they have endured.

I am concerned with the provision in the State Board of Education’s Allotment policy manual, regarding allotment adjustments for ADM decreases. The manual provides that: “In accordance with HB 1473 Section 7.15 (b), decreases to allotments must be made if the original anticipated ADM used for allotments exceeds the higher of the first or second month Average Daily Membership (ADM) by at least 2% or 100 students.” With the significant impact of the Hurricane, and with the displacement of so many of our county’s residents, as well as the relocation of Princeville Elementary School and the undetermined factor of whether the school will be able to be reopened, I feel that these requests will enable our school system to have stability until our residents can return. I request that these stabilization funds be provided for a period of two (2) years to cover the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years. As you will recall, it was well over five (5) years before most of our citizens were able to fully return to their homes after the devastating flood caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

With regards to item request (3), our experience with Hurricane Floyd and now with Hurricane Matthew, has demonstrated the overwhelming need for supplemental funding to assist our already large at-risk student population.

I hope that you and the legislature will be able to support our efforts to maintain stability for our students. We have only asked for reasonable support for our students, despite the many needs that exist in the educational arena. I am most grateful for your leadership and your support that you have provided during these very trying times. Thank you for considering these requests and know that I stand ready to provide further detail and / or clarification on any of the aforementioned points of requests.

Sincerely,

John D. FarrellyJohn D. FarrellySuperintendent

Cc: Senator Eric Smith – IngramRep. Shelly Willingham

412 PEARL STREET - TARBORO N C 27886 - TELEPHONE 252-641-2600 – FACSIMILIE 252-641-5714 - www.ecps.us - AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER -