Sumter School District staff presented a summary-level FY26 budget update that would add forecast revenue and cut base expenditures to produce a balanced budget that does not rely on the district's fund balance.

“We identified approximately $4,100,000 more of new revenue for FY 2026,” Shatika L. Spearman, chief finance officer, told trustees. Spearman proposed applying a 5% reduction to the FY25 expenditure base; after adjustments and the identified revenue increases, she said the district could present a balanced FY26 budget at about $168,017,006.18 without using fund balance.

Spearman outlined several cost items included in the proposal: a certified teacher-scale increase (presented as $1,500 per scale in the discussion, with a related figure of $1,400,000 also reported), an estimated $2,900,000 described in the presentation as the cost to provide a step increase to teachers, a 2% increase for bus drivers (about $74,000), a $4,500,000 figure for step increases for other non‑teacher staff (salary and fringe), six behavior interventionist positions estimated at $432,000, 15 instructional coaches estimated at $1,900,000 (to anticipate Title I reductions), and a number of smaller positions and program costs including a virtual-school license estimate of $125,000 and a special education teacher estimated at $77,000.

Spearman also said the district eliminated a previously requested preventive-maintenance position (about $60,000) and proposed reallocating existing resources to cover those functions. The presentation described the FY26 expenditure base as adjusted to $155,000,005.66 after the 5% reduction and then increased by new requests to match estimated revenue.

Board members asked for details about remediation and tutoring for students who are failing and about how some positions would be funded if Title I allocations decline. Academics staff deferred to a follow-up presentation to provide specifics, and trustees asked administration to return with more detail. Trustees also discussed the calendar for county and district budget approvals: county council meets June 10 and the district planned a June 9 public hearing, and staff advised that a special-called meeting may be required after the county action to finalize the FY26 budget.

No final, formal budget adoption was recorded in this discussion; Spearman presented the balanced scenario and requested the board's guidance on the 5% adjustment and the schedule for final approval.