Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Budgeting And Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Superintendent presents 2025–26 budget request seeking roughly $27.7 million in additional local funding; board receives recommended submittal
Summary
Superintendent Andrew G. Houlihan presented a superintendent’s budget recommendation that requests an estimated $27,718,784 in additional local funding for 2025–26 to maintain operations, raise teacher supplements and address capital needs.
Superintendent Andrew G. Houlihan presented a superintendent’s budget recommendation for the 2025–26 school year at the April 1 Union County Board of Education meeting, asking the county and state for additional funds to maintain operations and expand district services.
Houlihan said the district does not yet have updated county revenue figures because Union County is completing a property revaluation; those numbers were expected at a joint board meeting with county commissioners on April 10. He told the board the budget proposal presented that evening did not include projected local revenue from the county and that final adoption will occur at the May board meeting.
Key elements of the recommendation include continuing investments in employee compensation (including teacher supplements), programmatic improvements, inflationary adjustments, and classroom supports. District staff projected mandated increases and base funding needs of $3,967,862 to maintain operations. The proposal also listed $14,161,395 in additional needs (market adjustments, recruiting, added nursing positions, expanded school‑year positions for certain data/bookkeeping staff and program continuations), and capital needs of $28,924,602 primarily for facilities maintenance and technology replacement. Combined, staff described a total additional funding request of $27,718,784 to support operating and capital plans.
Specific figures mentioned in the presentation include:
- A proposed $2,000 increase to local teacher supplements, which staff estimated would cost approximately $7,600,000 and could move the district closer to a higher state funding rank if other districts’ actions remained unchanged.
- The district added a $2,000,000 item in the discussion but clarified the actual proposed teacher supplement increase shown would cost $7.6 million.
- Current local operating appropriation from the county was listed as roughly $130,000,000, with a total county appropriation (including capital outlay) of $149,946,755.
- The district reported its charter school pass‑through obligation at a little over $13,000,000 and estimated a little over 5,000 students enrolled in charter schools for which local per‑pupil payments are made.
During Q&A, board members pressed staff for details about how the district’s state funding rank is calculated, the effect of supplement increases on that ranking, the charter enrollment figures driving pass‑through payments, and whether the budget assumed growth in enrollment. Staff said the district is now funded in arrears and that state allotments use varying formulas and a three‑tier wealth factor; staff also said they were using a flat 5% projection for some cost lines in the absence of a state budget.
After the presentation, a motion to receive the recommended budget submittal was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.
Ending: Staff will brief the board again at the joint meeting with county commissioners on April 10 with updated revenue figures; the board expects to adopt a final budget at its May meeting once state and county funding details are known.
