Lexington County School District Five approves $250.6 million FY 2025–26 general fund budget; operating millage set at 2.61 mills

The Lexington County School District Five Board of Trustees approved the third and final reading of the FY 2025–26 general fund budget on June 23, 2025, adopting a $250,580,020 spending plan, an operating millage of 2.61 mills and a debt service millage of 69.5 mills. The board also approved fund balance assignments totaling $7,455,197. The final vote on the budget carried 4 to 3.

The budget includes a district-led teacher salary increase (presented in the budget materials as a $1,000-per-cell raise in the district’s preferred scenario), support staff raises of 2 percent, a bus-driver 2 percent increase, six permanent clinical counselors converted from prior ESSER funding and the addition of several administrative and operational positions. Administration recommended assigning $3,000,000 to an employee retention incentive, $400,000 for NAREIT payments, $3,500,000 for capital and equipment expenditures and $555,000 to reserve funding for six full-time positions for critical needs.

Miss Tucker, presenting the public hearing and the third and final reading, said, “So today is our public hearing and third and final reading for our general fund budget.” The presentation reviewed state and local revenue assumptions, changes to state provisos and one-time or shifting costs. Tucker told the board the district used conservative state revenue estimates and highlighted that local revenues make up roughly 37–38 percent of the proposed budget while state revenues account for about 62 percent.

Why this matters: The budget the board approved funds teacher-pay increases tied to new state minimums and the district’s local schedule changes; establishes the six clinical counselors as permanent, general-funded FTEs (previously funded with ESSER during a transition year); and assigns fund balance dollars to retention, capital and contingency needs. Trustees debated how much of the new spending should go to…