Chatham County Schools asks county for nearly $3.2 million to cover pay, benefits, meals and capital needs

Chatham County Schools officials told the school board on Jan. 13 that they will ask the county for about $3.2 million in additional funding for the 2025-26 fiscal year to restore salary supplements, cover rising benefits and operational costs, and expand capital outlay.

Superintendent Dr. Jackson said the district must show “a return on the investment” when requesting local funds and framed the priorities as investments in workforce stability, student programs and safe, modern facilities. "Schools are an investment, and we go and we ask on a regular basis for that investment," Jackson said.

The finance officer, Bridal Smith, presented the budget assumptions and line items the district expects to include in its county request. Among the items Smith listed were a $250,000 restoration of the master'00supplement for teachers who hold master'00degrees earned outside the state pay window; $400,000 estimated for fixed employee costs including health insurance and retirement growth; a 3'to—4 percent salary increase planning assumption; $300,000 for fixed operational costs such as insurance and utilities; $240,000 to fully fund a new unified stipend schedule for coaches, band, theater and grade-level leads; and $250,000 additional capital outlay funding. Smith also called for $300,000 to help offset the district’s cost of providing universal free breakfast and lunch at most schools under the Community Eligibility Provision.

Smith told the board the local share that would be…