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Rockingham County Schools staff outline $6.8M potential state shortfall, warn of staff and building consolidation
Summary
District finance staff told the school board the unresolved state biennium budget and falling enrollment could cut up to about $6.8 million in state funding for 2026–27, forcing position reductions, potential school consolidations and a $3.6 million shortfall in special-education funding that may require at least $1 million in local support.
Annie Ellis, presenting a high-level draft of the 2026–27 budget, told the Rockingham County Board of Education on Feb. 9 that a dispute between the North Carolina House and Senate over personal income tax rates has left the state without an approved biennium budget and created uncertainty for local schools.
Ellis said the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management is projecting roughly $2,100,000,000 less in annual state revenue in the coming biennium compared with the higher-rate scenario; she said that projection could translate to approximately $6,800,000 less state funding for Rockingham County Schools in 2026–27. The district’s current best-of-two funding estimate is 10,740 students, down from the district’s funded count of 10,885, Ellis said, and the district has lost about 3,800 students over two decades.
“Because student population drives much of our funding, that decline already tells us we’re going…
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