The final state budget has left decisions about cuts in teaching positions up to local school districts. But with the mandate to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds, reductions like the ones that have already taken place in Wake County are likely in districts across the state.

School Superintendent Del Burns said a five percent spending cut in this year's school budget put administrators and teachers on notice last spring. A hiring freeze has forced principals to stay within their budgets.

"We have been working very hard to position ourselves and as a result, we have made those hard decisions already," he said.

Wake principals have spent the summer preparing to welcome more students with fewer teachers.

"Where we were offering six or seven or eight sections of something, we had to reduce it back to maybe six sections," said Green Hope High Principal Jim Hedrick.
"Because you have to remember for every teacher in an area that we lose, we lose six classes."

Hedrick said in 35 years in education, he's never experienced a recession impact that hit education so hard. At Green Hope, cutbacks cost him eight classroom teachers and additional support staff positions. Student schedules that start going out this week will reflect the cuts.

"We'll have some students that probably will not get every class that they signed up for or every class that they requested," he said.

Final enrollment numbers could give principals leeway to hire a few more teachers after school has started. But with schedules already set, administrators say changes for the fall semester are unlikely.