Swain County Schools present budget, warn Impact Aid funding declining; request county support for positions

Swain County Schools staff presented a budget update April 1 and asked the Board of Education to support a mix of ongoing county funding and one-time measures as federal Impact Aid and other revenue streams fluctuate.

Cynthia Treadway (identified in the meeting as the district staff member presenting financials) told the board the district had completed month nine of the fiscal year and was near the expected 75% spending mark for many funds. She said capital outlay spending is higher mainly because of bus purchases, including an electric bus, and that food nutrition and special revenue funds were underspent relative to budget.

Treadway outlined specific requests and projections: a maintenance and facilities operations budget base of $1,863,345 (covering staff, utilities, supplies, routine repairs and debt service for an energy project); a projected cost for reading-assistance staff of $175,800; a county funding request to cover 20% of nurses and social workers totaling $107,825; and the addition of a dean-of-students position at approximately $81,000. She said these projections assume a 2% salary increase, 1% retirement increase and roughly 3% increase in health insurance, and are subject to state-level decisions.

On state and federal allotments, the staff reported an overall increase of $134,104 in state public-school funds with smaller allotments and adjustments noted for classroom teacher allotments and safety equipment contingency funds. For federal grants, staff listed additional allotments to school-improvement and Title I/II grants (figures discussed during the meeting included an additional allotment of roughly $12,936 for a Title I school improvement grant and smaller amounts for Title I and Title II adjustments).

Treadway discussed Impact Aid, the federal program that compensates districts for students living on federally owned land. She said Swain County’s base land payment is $557,785 and noted the student-based portion and total Impact Aid amounts have trended lower because fewer students live on federal land; the district had roughly 766 federally impacted students in the current year compared with 924 in 2018. Staff said a special one-time federal payment in 2024 had temporarily increased fund balances but that the district expects Impact Aid receipts to be lower going forward.

Board members discussed whether to challenge state calculations of local effort used in low-wealth funding formulas and were told the system is “black and white” and difficult to change. Staff suggested working through a low-wealth consortium and the district’s lobbyist to pursue adjustments.

The budget amendments presented by staff were later approved by the board as an action item.