A state budget proposal to allow school systems to use lottery money to pay teachers may help some of the larger school systems, but it wouldn’t do much for Richmond County, officials say.

The North Carolina House of Representatives proposed using $90 million in lottery proceeds to fund teacher salaries in its budget, which is currently being reconciled by leaders in both houses of the General Assembly.

House Democrats say the proposal would save more than 1,600 teaching positions throughout the state, but none of those being in Richmond County.

“It is my understanding that all of our lottery money is obligated to pay back the $25 million bond,” Richmond County Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Robert Beck said Monday.

While the proposal can’t do much to help RCS, Beck said it could hurt the school system, depending on how the proposal would be adapted in next year’s state budget.

“If the state were to divert that money, it would put Richmond County Schools in a precarious situation, in terms of paying back the bond,” Beck explained. “If they gave us an option of where to use it, we’ll have to continue paying back the bond.”

The proposal could help some larger school districts, like Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, in particular, which is facing the possibility of laying off about 500 teachers.

N.C. Sen. Bill Purcell explained last week it is unlikely the money would be taken away from local school systems.

“I think they’re looking at ways to give the local school units an option to use some of the lottery money to keep teachers in the classroom,” Purcell explained. “There may be some school systems who already have their’s tied up in bond requirements, and I don’t believe these would be affected.”

Beck explained RCS hasn’t had to lay off any teachers in the face of the current economic crisis.

“We haven’t had to lay off any teachers at this point,” Beck said. “We’ve been able to maintain our teaching staff without having to resort to those measures. As a matter of fact, we haven’t had to lay anyone off.”

Beck did say the school system has cut back on hiring non-certified personnel, “but we haven’t had to lay anyone off, and we hope that we’ll be able to avoid having to do anything like that in the future.”

When the North Carolina Education Lottery was created, about a third of the money taken in was designated to go to public schools, while prizes and expenses eat up the other two-thirds of the money.

Of the third designated for the schools, half goes to a set aside revenue fund. School construction gets about 40 percent of that plus scholarships are also funded.

Last year, Gov. Perdue came under fire for withholding lottery payments to local school systems in a bid to increase the revenue the state had on-hand.

Reconciliation meetings between House and Senate leadership will look to come up with an amalgam of their budget proposals, while making it jive with that of Gov. Perdue.

The House budget is believed to favor the public schools, while the Senate budget is perceived to favor the state’s university system.

The measure to allow school systems more freedom to use lottery money to pay salaries was supported by N.C. Rep. Melanie Goodwin during the budget-making process.

Since its inception, RCS has received more than $7 million in school construction funding from the lottery. These payouts are made quarterly, and are usually more than $400,000.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.