Granville County Schools ask commissioners to maintain baseline funding and add money for coaches and a Leader in Me restart
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Summary
School leaders presented a draft budget and five funding priorities: continuation funds for salaries/benefits, sustained SRO support, continued capital commitments (including a $15 million loan structure), a one-time $100,000 start for the Leader in Me program (total $139,000 including charter share) and recurring funding to preserve about five instructional coaches (district cost $500,000; $695,000 including charter transfers).
School leaders (speaker 8, presenting, and speaker 12, finance lead) gave commissioners a detailed budget briefing that framed the district's fiscal requests for the county.
Lede: The Granville County Public Schools delegation told commissioners the district's total budget is just under $98 million and that salaries and benefits account for about 68% of expenditures. The district reported a $4.6 million fund balance at the end of 2024-25 per audit and said it expects an unassigned balance around $4.1 million; school staff said their goal is to move closer to an $6.0 million unassigned fund balance.
Nut graf: School leaders outlined five priorities for the county: continuation funds to keep staffing and benefits steady in the face of inflation and salary pressures; sustaining school resource officer (SRO) funding at current levels; continuing capital funding (district staff described structuring a $15 million loan serviced through capital funds); and two programmatic increases: a one-time startup fee to implement the Leader in Me program at a new southern elementary (the three-year vendor-based rollout was quoted at $100,000; total including charter allocations cited as $139,000) and recurring local support to preserve instructional coaching positions (district cost about $500,000; with charter transfers the total request is $695,000 per year).
What they said and why it matters
- Fund balance and budget context: The finance lead explained that the district budget includes a combination of state, local, federal and restricted funds; local current-expense funding from the county is a significant portion of the district's general funding. She also noted that enrollment declines and consolidation have reduced some cost pressures, but rising salaries, health-care and retirement costs remain.
- Leader in Me: The district cautioned the program is a three-year, vendor-led rollout that cannot be simply transplanted; the minimum three-year implementation fee was identified at $100,000 (a district speaker said the three-year package is an obligation once started).
- Instructional coaches: Leaders described five current instructional-coach positions that work across all grades and focus on mentoring teachers and improving classroom instruction. These positions were initially paid with ESSER (COVID) funds; the district requested ongoing county support to preserve them because staff argued they produce strong gains in student achievement.
Next steps: School staff said their budget request remains a draft until the board of education formally adopts it; presenters asked commissioners to consider maintaining current funding levels for continuation items, SROs and capital, and to weigh the new programmatic asks during upcoming county budget deliberations.
Attribution: Quotes and specific dollar figures in this article come from the school presenters and the finance lead at the retreat.