Lenoir County Board of Education adopts 2025-26 budget, approves routine sales and school trips; grading scale change passes 4-3

The Lenoir County Board of Education on May 5 approved the district's 2025-26 planning budget and a package of routine items, and voted 4-3 to change elementary grading from a seven-point to a 10-point scale.

The board's meeting at Central Services included updates on the EB Brink Middle School construction bidding, the spring testing calendar, and a district application for career and technical education (CTE) funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Board members also approved surplus equipment sales (including about 681 MacBook Air laptops from a district technology refresh), updated fees and charges for the 2025-26 school year, and several student field trips.

Why it matters: the budget sets district priorities and funding levels for instruction, safety and operations for the 2025-26 school year; the grading-scale change aligns elementary grading with middle and high schools and generated extended debate among board members before passing on a 4-3 vote.

The board approved the district's planning budget for fiscal year 2025-26 after a presentation describing a budget built on estimated revenues, state allotments and local funding discussions with the county. Board leadership said the plan prioritizes instruction and school safety investments including building systems and air quality work. Budget amendment number 4, a housekeeping amendment to revise the working budget for activity through April 30, 2025, was presented and put to a vote and approved during the meeting.

In construction matters, the district reported that Metcon opened the majority of bid packages for the EB Brink Middle School project on April 24; eight packages initially lacked the required number of responses but were opened on May 1, leaving one turnkey sitework/prep package to be re-advertised after bids came…