Fayetteville board adopts 2024–25 final budget, approves $5 million building-fund transfer and one-time staff bonus

The Fayetteville Board of Education on Aug. 28 approved the district’s final 2024–25 budget and accepted several one-time personnel incentives, including a $5 million transfer to the building fund and a $750 one-time bonus for contracted staff.

Mickey McFetridge, the district’s director of finance, told the board that preliminary year-end figures produced a higher-than-expected ending fund balance and that administrators proposed moving $5 million to the building fund and distributing a $750 one-time bonus to staff who are on contract with the district as of Oct. 1. McFetridge said the district’s ending fund balance for the prior year was roughly in the $27.5 million range and that the transfer would leave the building fund balance near $21.9 million.

The board also approved a staff referral incentive to help recruit bus drivers: a $1,000 referral payment to district employees who refer a successful candidate who completes credentialing and a defined period of service. Greg Moniz, executive director of fiscal and human resources, said the district is pursuing the referral bonus immediately and will share program details with employees.

Superintendent Damian Mulford reviewed near-term enrollment figures and operational context: the district’s current enrollment is about 10,200 students with the official October 1 count still pending. The district noted some federal fund drawdowns (ESSER/ARPA) and that free breakfast is available districtwide this year. McFetridge told the board the projection includes conservative revenue assumptions and a 1% COLA in multi-year outlooks; the state will take over a portion of the district’s health-insurance match next year, which changes accounting treatment for benefits costs.

The board voted to approve the final budget of expenditures and the related personnel incentives by a 6-0 vote. The motion approved the recommended $5 million building fund transfer, the $750 one-time payment to contracted staff in November, and the $1,000 bus-driver referral bonus program.

Board members praised the one-time bonus and the referral program as practical measures to support employees and address recruitment challenges, particularly for bus drivers. The motion included direction for district staff to communicate details and timelines to employees and to monitor the impact of the referral program on hiring.

No millage increase was proposed; the finance presentation included a five-year outlook that preserved the district’s minimum fund-balance target of roughly 15 percent.