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Board adopts FY2027 budget after debate over raises, program cuts and bus funding
Summary
After hours of discussion and a failed amendment, the Washington County Public Schools Board voted 5–2 to adopt the FY2027 general fund operating budget, choosing Option 2 reductions that add roughly $519,000 to the salary resource pool while trimming select programs and device purchases.
The Washington County Public Schools Board of Education voted 5–2 to adopt the district’s FY2027 general fund operating budget on a motion that implements staff’s Option 2 reductions and channels $519,000 into a salary resource pool intended for staff compensation.
The budget vote followed a lengthy staff presentation and more than two hours of debate over alternatives that would have preserved bus replacement funding or kept the ABLE elementary virtual program in place. Dr. Savine turned the presentation over to staff that laid out two options: Option 1 would have reduced bus replacement and closed the ABLE elementary virtual program, returning $900,000 to salaries; Option 2 removed two special‑education case managers and pared Chromebook replacement spending to yield about $519,000 for wages.
Board members wrestled with competing priorities: the long‑term cost of letting the bus replacement cycle lag, the instructional impact of canceling ABLE, and how much a 1% raise would cost the district. Jeff from staff said a 1% increase for teachers would cost about $1,450,000. “If I was looking at adding an option 3 or 4…which would give us that 1.4, we’re pretty close,” he said.
An amendment that would have taken Option 2 but also retained bus replacement funding by cutting the ABLE program was moved and debated at length before failing 4–3. After that defeat, the board adopted Option 2 itself; the president announced: “We have a 5 to 2 vote in favor of passing it with the amendment. So we now have an adopted budget.”
The approved amendments reduce the small computer device line by $330,000 and eliminate funding for two special‑education case manager positions (about $189,000), reallocating those savings to increase the salary resource pool. Board members expressed continuing concern about long‑term funding and OPEB liabilities; one member urged caution, saying the county and taxpayers are already shouldering significant obligations.
Next steps: staff will implement the adopted budget and return to the board with any follow‑up motions if additional county funding becomes available. The board also discussed the option of asking the county commissioners for a supplemental 1% contribution and signaled readiness to amend the budget later if new revenue arrives.
