Northampton looking at cut in state school funding

By Ted Shockley

Northampton County Public Schools is getting a $248,000 cut in state aid for the next fiscal year, in part because of declining enrollment, school Superintendent Eddie Lawrence told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night.

“It had less money for Northampton County than I was anticipating,” Lawrence said of the state budget, adding that the School Board will be working to cut expenses.

“So we’ve got some hard work, hard lifting, to do,” he said.

The state budget headed for Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk includes a one-time “cost of competition” funding component for Northampton County geared to make teacher salaries more competitive with those in Maryland.

Supervisor John Coker lauded the Eastern Shore’s Richmond delegation for advocating for the cost-of-competition teacher funding.

“Rob Bloxom and Lynwood Lewis worked real hard on this,” he said, “and they have been since last summer.”

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