Cumberland County Schools presents superintendent's recommended 2025-26 budget, seeks county funding for teacher supplements

Jay Tolan, a finance staff member for Cumberland County Schools, presented the superintendent's recommended 2025-26 budget to the Board of Education's Budget and Finance Committee, saying the plan is "anchored in excellence" and is intended to direct any new county funds primarily to employee supplements.

Tolan told the committee the locally flexible portion of the budget asks the county for $14.1 million. That request would fund a proposed $11.7 million increase in local teacher supplements, a $1.2 million increase for classified staff supplements and $1.2 million for principal and assistant principal supplements, he said. The recommended budget also reflects the governor's proposed statewide payroll increases: a 3% raise and a $1,000 bonus for classified staff, which Tolan described as "the only projection that we know" because it is in the governor's budget proposal.

Why it matters: the board and district staff said the county appropriation is the portion they can control most directly; the requested $14.1 million would be routed primarily to local supplements if the county provides some or all of the request. Tolan said, "Any money that we receive ... will go directly to supplements." He added that if the county provides less than the full request, the district would scale…