Kanawha County Board holds public hearing on preliminary FY 2526 operating budget

The Kanawha County Board of Education held a statutory public hearing to review the school system’s preliminary operating budget for fiscal year 2526, during which staff said the general current expense fund is estimated at $337,769,470 and the special revenue fund at $55,438,395.

Mrs. Meadows, who presented the budget to the board, said the general fund total is “very similar to the total that I gave the board during the initial budget workshop in March,” and that changes since the workshop were driven by final PEIA numbers and actual insurance premium amounts. She told the board the preliminary documents were published for public inspection and the budget was published in the Gazette twice in the previous two weeks.

The budget presentation outlined why the numbers matter to staffing and services: the district’s headcount is down 336 students from last year, which staff said reduced state-aid funding for the equivalent of 32 positions (about 18 professional positions and 14 service positions). Meadows said the district’s middle school consolidations covered those…