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Board presents $3.8 million budget gap and unanimously opens Craven Virtual Academy closing procedure for fiscal reasons
Summary
Finance staff said proposed FY 2026–27 spending reductions total $1.48 million but the district still faces a roughly $3.8 million gap; the board voted to present the full funding request to county commissioners and simultaneously approved initiating a school‑closing procedure for Craven Virtual Academy to pursue potential program and allotment savings.
Craven County school leaders told the board they expect a roughly $3.8 million funding gap for the proposed FY 2026–27 budget after identifying $1.48 million in expenditure reductions.
Finance staff described actions already taken—position audits, zerobased and centralized budgeting—and outlined three high‑level options to close the remaining gap: (A) request additional county funding (recommended), (B) pursue further program and staffing reductions, or (C) use fund balance as a short‑term measure. Staff emphasized that option A would minimize classroom impacts while deeper reductions would likely affect staff and services.
As part of fiscal planning, Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman recommended initiating a school‑closing procedure for Craven Virtual Academy (CVA) for fiscal reasons to allow state allotments to be recalculated in the next fiscal year. The proposed timeline would begin employee and stakeholder engagement in April and allow a tentative board decision in mid‑May and a final decision in June to meet DPI deadlines to remove a school code for allotment recalculation.
Board members debated strategy and community communication and asked staff to prepare multiple budget pathways. Some board members urged a comprehensive capital and facilities strategic plan before asking commissioners for additional funds; others said presenting the district’s full needs would improve clarity with the commissioners. The board voted unanimously to initiate the CVA school‑closing procedure and to move forward with the recommended FY 26–27 funding request process.
Miss Rogers presented distribution options for a separate state low‑wealth instructional supplement (PRC071): staff proposed three distribution options (equal per‑teacher, tiered by years of service, or percentage of salary) and the board adopted a tiered distribution (option two) to deploy the $2.4 million state allotment to eligible instructional staff.
Finance staff said they will present the full package to county commissioners on May 4 and will return to the board with refined scenarios depending on county funding decisions. Staff emphasized the need for public engagement, a strategic capital plan and that some savings (for example, from school closures) depend on final operational decisions and timelines.
