Superintendent reviews FY26 budget issues: possible bus CIP shift, travel reimbursements and reading tutor apprenticeship

Superintendent Dr. Damon Stein and central finance staff briefed the Washington County Public School Board on Feb. 4 about several FY26 budget topics, including a potential county‑level shift of bus replacement funding to the capital improvement plan (CIP), district travel reimbursements, positions added to the general fund and the status of the reading tutor apprenticeship program.

Stein said the county administrator suggested the district could shift roughly $2 million for replacement school buses from the general fund to the CIP, with the county willing to support that reallocation if the district targeted the freed general‑fund dollars toward salary initiatives. ‘‘That will be a decision of the Board of Education,’’ Stein said, and he asked board members to consider long‑term implications because CIP funds are…