Swain County board approves interim 2025-26 budget, authorizes drawdown for middle school project

The Swain County Board of Education voted unanimously May 17 to approve a continuing resolution to carry operations into the 2025‑26 school year and to request an initial drawdown from the Needs Based Public School Capital Fund for the middle school project.

The action matters because the district has begun contractor and architect work for the middle school and needs cash flow before the full 2025‑26 budget is adopted. Board members and staff said the drawdown covers three months of architect fees and that the district will return with a full 2025‑26 budget once state allocations and fringe benefit figures are finalized.

Miss Treadway, the district finance presenter, told the board the drawdown request is for roughly $176,700 — 95 percent of a projected $186,000 in architect fees — to provide cash flow for April through August invoices. “We are allowed to draw down basically three months in advance,” she said. Treadway also presented budget amendments that increased the State Public School Fund by $83,247 (including a $50,037 transportation allotment) and adjusted several federal grant allotments.

On capital outlay, the board approved amendments that add $54,596,223 to capital budgets. That total includes a $52 million needs‑based middle school capital grant and a $2.6 million county match the district is expecting, the finance presentation said. The board also approved a list of district capital requests limited by the superintendent to about $350,000 of local capital spending and approved awarding a contract to WNC Roofing for skylight and roof repairs at elementary schools (a contract above $50,000).

In discussion, maintenance leadership outlined projects the capital budget request would fund if county match and other allocations are confirmed. Tommy, the maintenance director, described projects ranging from parking lot and storefront door repairs to rooftop gym HVAC units, skylight resealing and playground work. He told the board the gym rooftop units need work to reduce equipment failures and protect systems against power fluctuations. Several items were noted as estimates rather than firm bids.

The board also approved a five‑year contract renewal for TimeClock Plus, choosing a multi‑year schedule that reduces long‑term price increases compared with the vendor’s proposed 8 percent annual increases. The board approved the TimeClock Plus agreement unanimously; the administration said the five‑year term saves roughly $13,000 over the vendor’s annual‑increase proposal.

Board action: the continuing resolution, drawdown, budget amendments, capital budget and vendor contracts were approved by roll call/show of hands and recorded as unanimous. The district will present a full 2025‑26 budget after state allotments and fringe calculations are known.

Looking ahead, staff asked the county commissioners to confirm the county’s intended match for the middle school grant so the district can use local match funds to pay early project costs. The administration said it will bring final budget documents to future meetings once the state budget and county allocations are resolved.