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Pender County Schools board approves local budget request, seeks higher supplement to compete with neighbors
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Summary
The committee approved a final local-request budget to submit to the county that raises the local supplement toward 12% to better compete with neighboring districts and adds targeted salary and program investments; staff will present the package to the county May 11.
The Pender County Schools committee-of-the-whole on Thursday approved a local-request budget that asks county leaders to increase the district’s funding supplement and backs new investments in pay and programs.
Miss Nowen presented the budget and told the board “we have $1,800,000 already allocated for fund balance,” warning that the district could need roughly $4,000,000 more in fund-balance coverage this year as it absorbs costs for exceptional children services and other local expenses. She said Medicaid reimbursements expected before June 30 could cover about $1,000,000 of an estimated $2,000,000 EC shortfall.
The proposal the board approved would raise the local supplement—targeted to reach 12%—and adds line items including a $1.2 million increase for certified staff supplements, a $4.48 million increase for classified employees, a $250,000 pool for athletic and extracurricular supplements, a $100,000 investment in advanced teaching roles, and new maintenance and HVAC technician positions. Staff described the $4,000,000 number as the baseline needed to maintain current services and said the district would also request an additional $7,500,000 in local support for expanded services.
Dr. Taylor and other staff outlined a spreadsheet of proposed extracurricular supplements and three floating stipends per school for unique co-curricular events (for example, Hispanic Heritage Night at Rocky Point). The board discussed phasing supplement increases over multiple years and preserving capital asks separately.
A motion to approve the budget for county submission passed unanimously; staff said the presentation to the county will occur May 11 at 4 p.m.
Next steps: the board will present the request to county commissioners on May 11 and continue negotiating the district’s local-request numbers in advance of the county’s budget decision.
