GOV. ROY COOPER SIGNS NEW BUDGET FOR WATAUGA, AND ASHE COUNTY PARKS
On July 11th Governor Roy Cooper signed a new state budget, in addition to announcing that the State of Emergency in North Carolina brought on by the Covid Pandemic will be lifted as of August 15th.
A major focus of this new budget will be to provide more funding and higher wages to the North Carolina education system and it's teachers. Non-educational school employees are expected to make $15 an hour or receive a 4% raise, whichever is the greater of the two.
Teachers are projected to receive on average a raise of 9.1% over the next two years and will get a pay increase of 4.2% by the end of this fiscal year. Appalachian State University will receive $9 million for lab school programs in addition to phase 1 upgrades for the App State Hickory Campus.
$950,000 has been allotted for the development of the Boone Gorge Park as well as $100,000 for Ashe Counties Paddy Mountain Park.
