Red Clay board delays vote on FY26 final budget after members ask for more review time

The Red Clay Consolidated School District’s finance team presented the FY26 final budget during the Feb. 11 board meeting and the board voted unanimously to delay final approval until the March meeting to allow additional review.

CFO/Presenter Dr. Ted Ammon summarized key adjustments in the final draft: a roughly 2.5% increase in state Division I salary funding tied to additional September unit counts and related services units; approximately $486,000 more in net choice revenue than budgeted; and a decrease of about $1,000,000 in interest income because the county’s reassessment delayed tax receipts to Dec. 31. Ammon said those changes result in a modest 2.3% overall increase in expenditures and a projected June 30 ending balance of about $7.5 million.

Ammon also warned of state budget proposals that could affect the district, including a proposed $8 million reduction to Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC) funding, changes to athletic‑trainer grants and a proposed stop to state coverage of substitutes for paid parental leave; he said the district is watching how those recommendations move through the General Assembly.

During discussion, board members asked for clarity about the split tax‑rate authority (which Ammon said would expire June 30 absent legislation), the WLC funding timeline and the district’s capacity to fund teacher compensation during upcoming contract negotiations. One board member said the full draft of the budget was posted that morning and requested more time; members then moved to postpone the final vote until March. The motion to delay approval carried unanimously.

No budget changes were approved at the Feb. 11 meeting; the board directed staff to post the final document removal of the draft watermark (if the board approves later) and to continue engagement with the budget oversight committee and the board ahead of the March vote.