Rowan County Schools previews budget with staff raises, Chromebook replacements and capital repairs

Rowan County School staff on Tuesday presented a preliminary 2025–26 budget that would fund across-the-board salary increases, replace aging Chromebooks on a five-year cycle, and set aside contingency and capital dollars for projects including lighting, parking and building repairs.

The proposed budget, shown to the Rowan County Board of Education for discussion, would maintain a contingency reserve the presentation described as substantially higher than the minimum statutory recommendation and include recurring salary increases targeted to certified and hourly staff while preserving built-in step increases in the district—s redesigned salary table.

District staff said the package is intended to sustain salary-table changes adopted last year and to be conservative about possible federal funding reductions. The presentation noted the district is relying on a 90 percent "hold harmless" expectation from federal-to-state education funding but said that the district is planning on a conservative revenue picture because state-level changes could still affect future allocations.

Key budget items and rationale

The draft budget presented lists total revenue in the range described by staff as about $37 million, with a beginning balance the presentation identified as roughly $3.2 million. Staff said that if estimated revenues and beginning balances materialize, the budget would result in a contingency reserve the presentation put at about $2.09 million (staff cautioned these are working figures).

Salaries:…