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Commissioners prepare local teacher supplements for three districts; Lexington asks to extend funds to classified staff
Summary
Davidson County commissioners discussed memorandums of understanding with Lexington, Davidson County and Thomasville school systems to deliver local supplement increases to educators; Lexington requested that a portion be used to raise supplements for classified employees under $40,000.
Superintendents and school leaders asked the Davidson County Board of Commissioners on June 5 to approve local supplement agreements that would raise staff supplements for three school systems.
Lexington City Schools Superintendent Nikkia Hardy told commissioners her district seeks to use a portion of county funds to expand supplements beyond teachers to classified staff who earn less than $40,000 a year. Hardy said Lexington would contribute roughly $7,000 in local funds and asked the board to approve using about $191,000 from county budgeted supplements; she proposed increasing the classified supplement modestly (from 2% to 3%) and raising the teacher supplement from 8% to about 8.75%.
County Manager Casey Smith summarized three separate MOUs the county was preparing for the budget package. Thomasville’s MOU would move that district from an existing 6% teacher supplement to 7.4% in a single-year change; Davidson County Schools would use county funds to phase toward an 8% supplement over multiple years. Smith said Lexington’s request differs in that it proposes targeting part of the county allocation to certified and also to classified staff earning under $40,000; he said staff would prepare revised MOU language to reflect that tweak.
Commissioners asked how state-level teacher salary decisions could affect the supplements, and Smith said the MOUs are framed as a multiyear, good-faith effort that would be reassessed if the state raises teacher pay significantly. No final vote was taken on the MOUs at the June 5 meeting; Smith said the revised documents would be packaged for the board’s Monday night budget session if commissioners have no objections.
Speakers included Lexington Superintendent Nikkia Hardy and representatives from other local school systems. Hardy emphasized the role of classified employees — bus drivers, nutrition staff, custodians and teacher assistants — in day-to-day school operations and said the district wants to retain employees in a competitive environment.
The county has budgeted funds intended to incrementally raise local supplements; commissioners were asked to approve MOUs that lay out the phase-in approach and reporting expectations for the districts.
