Catawba County Board of Education adopts 2026–27 budget, approves aviation CTE pathway and multiple facility and curriculum purchases

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — The Catawba County Board of Education on March 23 unanimously adopted the district's 2026–27 local current expense budget and approved a suite of new programs and contracts, including an aviation career-technical education (CTE) pathway and purchases of summer reading packs.

The board adopted the budget after Seth Privet, a district financial presenter, described the overall request as “about 11 and a half percent increase,” and said district leadership planned to meet with county officials to seek their approval. The public hearing on the budget drew no speakers who had signed up to comment.

The budget adoption authorizes the superintendent and staff to continue county-level coordination toward final approval. The board approved the measure by unanimous hand-raise vote.

The meeting's largest program decision was approval of a new aviation CTE pathway presented by Adam Wyndham, a district career-technical education staff member. Wyndham described a two-course aviation sequence (Aviation 1 and Aviation 2) that combines classroom instruction with a hands-on, performance-based build in which students would assemble a Sling 2 light-sport aircraft. He said the Sling 2 is a two-seat, roughly 700-pound aluminum plane with a cruising speed of about 120 miles per hour.

Wyndham detailed program…