Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Randolph County Schools requests $2.2 million from commissioners, warns $1.07 million continuation cost would trigger cuts
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Steven Gainey presented the Randolph County School System budget request for 2025–26, asking commissioners for $2,215,002.99 covering continuation costs, a 0.5% supplement increase, data-management staffing and a $100,000 capital-outlay increment.
Dr. Steven Gainey, superintendent of the Randolph County School System, asked the county commissioners on June 1 to approve a combined $2,215,002.99 request covering the school system’s current-expense continuation costs and capital-outlay needs for 2025–26.
Gainey told the board the school system serves 14,803 students and 2,080 staff. He said the most urgent item is a $1,067,299 continuation-cost request — expenses the district must pay to maintain current operations — and warned that anything less would effectively be a budget cut.
Gainey summarized the district’s main requests: - $1,067,299 continuation costs, which include projected increases in insurance and retirement matching and a 4% legislative salary projection for locally paid staff. - $925,000 for a 0.5% supplement increase for employees (Gainey described the district’s effort as incremental and consistent with prior years). - $123,000 to extend data-management staff employment by one month to support an Infinite Campus student-information-system transition. - $100,000 for recurring facility upgrade/repair capital outlay.
The superintendent said enrollment shifts to charter and virtual schools affect the local budget. He cited 261 students who left for out-of-county charter schools and said that equates to $402,201 in displaced Randolph County tax dollars; he also noted a $2,012,546 transfer to the county’s charter school and $115,575 to virtual charters in the current year.
Gainey appealed for continuity with the county, saying, “If we don't get this and I understand there's probably something else that looks nicer in the headlines ... if we don't get the continuation cost, we just got a $1,067,299 budget cut.” He prioritized continuation costs first, then data-manager months, then supplements and capital outlay.
Chairman Fry thanked Gainey and praised the school system’s fiscal stewardship, saying, “Your math is always right.” Gainey described ongoing efforts to trim the district budget and to work with the board of commissioners to phase in staffing and supplement increases over time.
No formal vote on the request was taken at the meeting; the superintendent said the request mirrored materials presented at the district’s January joint meeting and that staff would continue to work with county finance officials and the commissioners before final appropriations.
