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Kershaw County School Board accepts federal funds, hears budget warning
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Summary
The Kershaw County School Board unanimously approved accepting federal funds for next year and received a high-level budget update that warned of limited new revenue, a roughly $1 million CTE funding shift, and potential $2.6'$2.7 million costs from proposed state pay mandates.
Kershaw County's Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion April 14 to accept federal funds for the 2026-27 school year and heard a budget overview that staff said leaves little room for new spending.
Mr. Matthew, a district administrator who introduced the federal funds item, told the board the request is based on last year's allocations and that staff expect to use Title I and other federal dollars to prioritize personnel. "Programs don't teach children. People teach children," he said, urging the board to use federal funds to support staff. The motion to accept the funds was moved by Miss Furnace and seconded by Mr. Cambron and passed by voice vote.
Why it matters: district staff said the expected revenue picture is tight and contingent on enrollment counts and state decisions, shaping how administrators plan for staff, benefits and curriculum delivery.
State aid and local factors: Mr. Willard, budget director, gave a high-level presentation and said the house budget as drafted would net about a $1.5 million increase to state aid under the funding formula but cautioned that the increase depends on the 45/40 day adjusted student counts. He noted that one positive technical change is an approximate $1,000,000 shift of CTE (career and technical education) salaries and fringes from the general fund to a state CTE fund, which would free general-fund capacity but is not a revenue gain for the general fund.
Mr. Willard listed several cost pressures the district is monitoring: potential state-mandated pay adjustments tied to the state employee increase, an expected mandated step for bus drivers, uncertain PEBA health-plan cost changes, and inflationary impacts on utilities and supplies. He gave specific figures used in planning: a proposed $2,000 increase per step on the teacher minimum salary schedule would cost the district "over $2,000,000," and a separate mandated certified-teacher step increase was calculated at roughly $604,000. "You're looking at between 2.6 and 2,700,000 just on two mandates that are drastically underfunded," he said.
Board questions and staffing implications: Board members pressed whether any reported state surplus would be directed to education; Mr. Willard said he had no indication that surplus dollars had been added to the education formula. Mr. Kim asked how student-to-teacher ratios determine position reductions; Dr. Goodwin explained the district uses different ratios by grade band and that the district is trying to absorb reductions through attrition to avoid involuntary transfers. He noted an unexpected kindergarten enrollment decline at Pine Tree Hill as an example of local variance.
Next steps: staff said they expect to return with more detailed figures and a first reading of the budget at the board's second May meeting, after further legislative developments and county reassessment numbers are incorporated.
Sources and attribution: Quotes and figures above come directly from board meeting remarks by Mr. Matthew, Mr. Willard and Dr. Goodwin during the April 14, 2026 meeting of the Kershaw County School Board of Trustees.
Closing: The board approved the federal funds acceptance and was briefed on budget risks; staff will present refined revenue and expenditure projections before the board's May budget reading.
