As of July 31st, 2025, Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools’ (WSFCS) budget deficit is over 45 million dollars, meaning the school board overspent the district surplus of funding that was provided due to COVID. Since that extra funding has since been revoked, the District is now facing a financial crisis that will cause several changes in the way schools operate.
“WS/FCS would need to take draconian measures to further reduce expenses — likely for years — to free up funds to pay this debt. Given the extensive cuts already made, we would not be able to shield schools and students from the impact of further reductions.” WSFCS board chair Deanna Kaplan said.
These budget changes may also affect arts programs, as the smaller amounts of funding could cause considerable changes to the way teachers have to manage their capital and classrooms.
“There are three art teachers at West, Mrs. Colamarino has joined us on staff. Ms. Edwards and I have worked together to help her set up her new classroom with supplies from last year. We are being creative and flexible in our projects to make sure we have enough materials to last through the second semester,” visual arts instructor Elizabeth Betson said.
Art students will also be feeling the effects of the lack of budget this year due to school’s participation in state or county-wide events.
“There are art shows we participate in, such as the Carolina Classic Fair, and in the spring, we submit Scholastic Art. There is a fee for submission, and we have always supported our student artists with their submission fees. This year, we will have to ask students to pay the fee. We also have materials such as mat board, tape, etc., that are needed for the presentation of the artwork in the shows. Art materials are expensive and we are working on getting funds or donations for the needed materials,” Betson said.
Staffing has also become a big issue within the district. Due to the lack of funds, administrative staff and other faculty will have to be cut in an effort to save money
“We lost one of the assistant principals, Mr. Tesh; the position was removed from West and all of us in administration will have more responsibilities,” assistant principal David Small said.
There is an outstanding debt that WSFCS has to pay back by the 20th of September; if this is not paid off by then, the school district will face a 1% interest that will have to be paid back monthly.
“The state is giving the district a grace period to repay the full debt. After September 20, the district will be assessed the one percent penalty.” WSFCS District leader Amanda Lehmert said.
But not only will the arts be affected by the lack of budget, core classes like math and english will also be reeling from not being able to properly flesh out and teach their classes to their standards.
“I have begun to utilize the computer more instead of paper. Students also have to write problems in their notes instead of me giving them paper copies. In the past, the school system has provided the math department with paid subscriptions to various sites to use for testing. These sites may or may not be paid for this year,” Math teacher Heather Bullard said.
It’s safe to say that the district is suffering from its financial loss and it will take time to fully recover from the short-term effects of the budget cuts but some things may never be the same in the long term.