Enterprise City Schools board approves FY2026 budget, five-year capital plan and policy wording change

The Enterprise City Schools board approved the district’s fiscal year 2026 budget and related measures after a presentation that detailed fund balances, program allocations and capital spending.

Speaker 1, who presented the budget, said the district was looking at an ending fund balance of $48,300,000, with about $35 million in the general fund, $3.6 million in special revenue and $7 million in capital projects. He told the board most revenue is state-sourced (about 60%), with local revenue at roughly 26% and federal revenue at about 14%.

The presentation highlighted several cost and revenue drivers shaping the budget. Speaker 1 said the district expects higher overall expenditures this year primarily because of construction projects and noted about $5,900,000 remains to pay for the indoor practice facility. He said instructional services and related personnel costs account for roughly 68–69% of spending. The district will use roughly $515,000 plus about $2 million already on hand to purchase six buses; presenter remarks said all route buses are 10 years old or newer and current fleet renewal plans keep the fleet funded.

On enrollment and staffing, Speaker 1 reported current enrollment was down about 95 students year over year and reminded the board that the state fixes allocations based on the official count taken 20 days after Labor Day. He also described shifts in foundational units: “We lost a half of a unit of assistant principal of funding … and we gained 1.91 teachers for a total increase of 1.41.” The presenter explained unit allocations are based on student counts (approximately one unit per 25 students, with fractional units possible).

Dr. Thomas recommended board approval of the FY2026 budget, saying the budget hearings had been held and recommending adoption for the period beginning Oct. 1, 2025 through Sept. 30, 2026. “It is my recommendation that you approve the budget as presented for fiscal year 2026 beginning 10/01/2025 through 09/30/2026,” he said.

A motion to approve the budget was made and seconded; the board voted by raising hands when asked to vote. The transcript records the motion (mover: Speaker 4; second: Speaker 3) and a vote by raised hands, but it does not include a roll-call tally.

The board also approved the district’s 2026–2030 five-year capital plan (required for submission to the Alabama State Department of Education), a wording change to Board Policy 5.1 addressing employee leave and paid parental leave, three adult-care meal contracts from the Child Nutrition program as a consent agenda item, and the personnel action items for transfers, retirements, resignations and new employments. In each case the agenda item was recommended by Dr. Thomas, moved and seconded, and approved by the board by a vote called at the meeting; the transcript does not supply numerical vote tallies.

Speaker 1 reviewed other program details that informed the board’s decisions: Title I funding rose by roughly $250,000 to about $1,785,000 and is distributed among Title I schools; Holly Hill (a non-Title I school) received a mix of units including 0.88 for a CALT dyslexia teacher and 0.73 for ESL, plus an additional high-needs special-education unit funded by an annual grant written by Joyley Caine. Technology funding of about $1,700,000 from the state will include $500,000 toward laptops and Chromebooks, and general capital outlay spending for the year was estimated near $4.5 million beyond funds already on hand.

The presenter described the RAISE Act as a state-level consolidation of four pots of funding (gifted, poverty, English learner and ESL) into a single pot, which he said requires district directors to coordinate to agree on use. He also reviewed Child Nutrition finances, saying the program’s only profitable activities are summer feeding and supper programs; the projected beginning balance for the food-service fund was $1,500,000 with an anticipated ending balance of about $481,000 (a one-month reserve).

Board members asked questions about unit losses and bus-driver staffing. On units, the presenter reiterated that student counts govern unit allocation and that fractional changes can affect staffing levels. On bus drivers, Dr. Thomas said the district has been short due to health leaves and that some new hires were recommended at the meeting; board members encouraged community referrals for applicants.

The meeting closed with board members thanking staff and noting a regular board meeting scheduled for Sept. 30 at 5 p.m. The transcript records motions and approvals for the budget, capital plan, policy wording change, consent contracts and personnel actions but does not include numerical vote tallies for any of those items.