Message from Superintendent Regarding PreK
Dear NHCS PreK Staff and Families,
As your Superintendent, I want to speak directly to you about the recent outcome of the New Hanover County Commissioners’ budget work session meeting. We are grateful for the support our County Commissioners continue to provide to public education. Their investment in our schools has made a lasting difference, and we do not take that for granted.
At the same time, we understand that this year’s budget decisions, particularly the reduction in PreK funding, have raised concerns for many of our families. Please know that we hear you, we understand the uncertainty this creates, and we are fully committed to working through these challenges together to find the best possible path forward for our staff and students.
Let me begin by reassuring you: no PreK staff member will lose their job. We are fully committed to every staff member affected by these changes, and we will work closely with our Finance and Human Resources teams to ensure that anyone who wants to remain with NHCS will continue to have a position.
We are equally committed to our PreK families. In the coming days, we will be working to revise our current budget in a way that prioritizes students and minimizes disruption to the services our families have come to expect.
Our goal is to honor the commitments already made to families who have enrolled their children in NHCS PreK. If this becomes financially impossible, we will work on finding as many solutions as possible.
This process will take time, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the details. We aim to present a revised budget proposal to the Board of Education at an upcoming agenda review meeting and will provide timely updates as new information becomes available. We are committed to keeping families informed and will reach out individually to those affected as plans are finalized.
We know this news may cause uncertainty, but please know we are approaching this challenge with one guiding principle: to do what is best for our students, our staff, and our community. Thank you for your continued trust and support.
With appreciation,
Dr. Chris Barnes
Superintendent
New Hanover County Schools
New Hanover County Schools