Meeting the Moment Together
Right now, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools is at the center of a storm. If you’ve seen the headlines, you know the numbers are big and the news can feel confusing and overwhelming. That’s why we’re slowing down.
This is the first in a series of blogs meant to help our community make sense of what’s happening, one layer at a time. We’ll break down the crisis in plain language, share the voices of those most impacted, and highlight ways to get involved.
Public education is one of our greatest public goods. It’s where young people find belonging, discover their strengths, and prepare for futures of meaning and possibility. When our schools thrive, our whole community thrives. And when they’re under threat, the future of every child – and the future of Forsyth County itself – is on the line.
As the poet and educator Donovan Livingston, a native North Carolinian and proud former Winston-Salem resident, reminds us in his spoken-word piece Lift Off:
“Injustice is telling them education is the key
While you continue to change the locks.
Education is no equalizer —
Rather, it is the sleep that precedes the American Dream.
So wake up — wake up! Lift your voices
Until you’ve patched every hole in a child’s broken sky.
Wake up every child so they know of their celestial potential.
…
Together, we can inspire galaxies of greatness
For generations to come.
No, sky is not the limit. It is only the beginning.
Lift off.”
Two Crises, One Community
Here’s what’s on the table right now:
2024–25 Accumulated Shortfall
A $46.1 million accumulated shortfall reflects a pattern of past spending that outpaces available resources – a sign that previous financial planning wasn’t sustainable and that our system needs stronger, more intentional budgeting going forward.
Think of it like a household budget: these cuts are like recognizing your paycheck isn’t enough to cover your regular bills. Even if you stop adding new debt, you still have to scale back in serious ways to live within your means.
2025–26 Budget Cuts
Deep cuts this year are required, but aren’t just about last year’s shortfall. They’re needed because the district has to align its budget with the money it actually has. Past budgets didn’t match reality, and now tough decisions are required to get back on track.
Think of it like a household budget: these cuts are like recognizing your paycheck isn’t enough to cover your regular bills. Even if you stop adding new debt, you still have to scale back in serious ways to live within your means.
Both of these challenges are serious and demand attention, but they come from different places. One shows a pattern of past budgets that didn’t match the money available. The other shows the reality of needing to adjust course now to prevent a cycle of overspending. What we’re seeing isn’t just the result of one overspent year; it’s the outcome of a system and budget structure that let overspending become the norm.
Want to understand the numbers?
The full story of how we got here can’t be captured in one post. Forsyth Forum has put together a clear, detailed breakdown of the budget, timelines, and what’s at stake for students and staff. This is essential grounding. We urge you to read their analysis, then come back here to reflect on what it means for our community.
What’s Driving the Crises
State underfunding.
North Carolina has failed for decades to meet its constitutional obligation to fully fund schools, as laid out in the Leandro Plan (see Taking Action, Together section below). Expansion of private school vouchers has made things worse, pulling resources out of classrooms and widening inequities.
Financial mismanagement.
Our school district has to be accountable for local decisions. Past gaps in oversight and controls have compounded the challenge and damaged public trust.
Pre-existing inefficiencies.
Even before this crisis, staff and families were navigating a system stretched thin and often inequitable. Cuts now deepen those cracks.
Budget structure.
School funding is complicated. Different funding “buckets” can and can’t be used for certain needs, leaving leaders with limited flexibility to respond.
Add to this the leadership transitions – three different superintendents in just the last five years – and the picture gets even more complex. Frequent turnover at the top makes it harder to build long-term stability, deepen trust, and follow through on plans that could move the district forward.
This isn’t just about one bad budget year. It’s about a system that’s been under strain for more than a decade, and unless we tackle the root issues, the crisis cannot be resolved.
Who Feels It Most
Behind every number is a person: a student who loses a needed service, a teacher facing a layoff, a parent who doesn’t know if their child’s school will have enough staff.
Cuts rarely fall evenly. Because of deep, long-standing inequities, Black and Latine students, families, and staff are likely to feel the hardest hits. Layoffs often fall on schools that already have the fewest resources, stretching them even thinner. Title I dollars will soften the blow for some of our most under-resourced schools, but future federal cuts are still uncertain. And schools in the middle – not wealthy, but not Title I either – could end up carrying much of the burden. This moment isn’t only about money. It’s about justice, and whether we choose to confront the broken systems that have left too many schools underfunded for too long.
Taking Action, Together
Knowing the causes of this crisis is only the beginning. What matters is what we do about it as families, students, educators, and community members. Change doesn’t come from one blog or one meeting. It comes from people power — neighbors refusing to let children be shortchanged.
Right now, our teachers, students, and schools need more than sympathetic words. They need advocacy. They need organizing. They need people across Forsyth County and across North Carolina to step up and insist that every child deserves a fully funded education.
That means we need to:
-
Push for transparency and accountability locally. State underfunding is the root of this crisis, but that doesn’t excuse mismanagement closer to home. We must continue pressing our school board and district leaders to be clear, responsible, and transparent with the resources they do have.
-
Engage your community and stay informed. Talk to your friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors about what’s happening in our schools. Sign up for and share the Thriving Together Newsletter to catch upcoming posts on the budget crisis and other important systems-change and advocacy work in Forsyth County.
- Hold our local and state legislators accountable. School board meetings matter, but they are not enough. Our state lawmakers control the purse strings, and they must feel the pressure of our collective voices.
- Call on state leaders to fully fund the Leandro Plan. The plan is clear: North Carolina knows what it takes to deliver a sound, basic education for every child. What’s missing is political will.
Collective Power in Action
Change happens when we move from awareness to action, and that starts with each of us finding our place in the work. Across Forsyth County, students, parents, educators, and community members are already showing what’s possible when we stand together.
This fight didn’t start in 2025. Communities in Forsyth County have long been organizing to demand equity and justice in education.
Action4Ashley
For over a decade, the Ashley Elementary community has fought for safe, healthy learning spaces. Families, neighbors, and advocates organized through Action4Ashley, using petitions, public forums, and media advocacy to demand equitable investment. Their efforts led to Board approval for a new school design and construction, showing what’s possible when community voice leads the way.
Assocation of Educators
Forsyth County Association of Educators (FCAE) and the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) are building collective power to demand the resources our schools need. Educators lead the work, but allies are critical too. Parents, caregivers, and neighbors can stand shoulder to shoulder with teachers through NCAE’s community ally pathway and other opportunities.
How Are the Children
The Justice for Every Child Manifesto workshops, part of the How Are the Children initiative, are spaces where families, educators, and neighbors come together to dream, organize, and plan for schools that are just, equitable, and fully resourced. How Are the Children works to center every child’s experience in planning, advocacy, and accountability. Even in crisis, How Are the Children shows community imagining steps toward a better future for every child.
Together, these efforts remind us that our collective power — students, families, educators, and allies — is stronger than any single budget line. The more we organize, the closer we get to fully funded, thriving public schools.
Building Lasting Conditions to Thrive
The budget shortfall is real and urgent, but it also opens the door for deeper collaboration. While the Wellbeing Portfolio isn’t a substitute for the resources our schools need, it offers a way to imagine what stronger, more connected systems could look like. Together, we can advance solutions that support not only our school district, but the wellbeing of all who call Forsyth County home.
You can explore the Wellbeing Portfolio to see how Thriving Together is planning to work across sectors to address the root causes of inequity. And you can also stand with our schools right now by supporting the WS/FCS Education Foundation’s campaign to directly fund classroom needs and staff support.
When paired with strong advocacy for public education, these efforts can spark a different future: one where schools are fully resourced, families feel supported, and every child has what they need to flourish.
Looking Ahead
This blog is part of a series, and we’re taking it step by step. We are still here – learning, listening, and planning to share what we know with you, our community. We aren’t rushing, because building real change takes time. By moving together at the pace of trust, we grow people power, and that is what it will take to secure the schools our children deserve.
This is a long fight – not months, but years. But together, we can rise beyond this moment.