School leaders ask commissioners for $6.3 million to shore up teacher pay, open Wilsons Mills HS

Johnston County Public Schools representatives urged the Board of Commissioners to include an additional $6.3 million in the county’s FY 2026–27 budget to sustain teacher supplements, absorb pay raises and help open Wilsons Mills High School.

"We are seventh in the state in teacher supplement pay," said Lynn Andrews, the school board chairwoman, highlighting retention and recruitment benefits county funding provides. School officials told the board they project enrollment at about 41,368 students and emphasized that local dollars pay the majority of supplements and new-teacher salaries.

The school request would increase the district’s current-expense allocation by roughly 5.4% from the prior year. Officials said roughly $4 million of the ask covers supplement and pay-raise costs; about $1.4 million would support operations, utilities and athletics for the new Wilsons Mills High School. Finance director Steven Brit and staff outlined that a fixed supplement schedule adopted in December preserved current amounts for existing teachers while creating predictability for budgeting.

Superintendent-level speakers and school finance staff warned that state low-wealth funding is volatile and could fall in 2027–28 following property revaluations. "Every dollar of our low-wealth money goes to teachers," the presenter said, noting county schools might face a $6–9 million shortfall in a worse-case scenario if state allocations shift—pressing the county to consider the timing and risk of cuts.

School leaders also detailed capital pressures in facilities: aging chillers and HVAC systems, one-off emergency replacements this year and an estimated $33 million to replace 52 remaining R22 chillers if replacements continue at current unit costs. They urged the board to weigh a multi-year replacement plan over the current "run-to-die" maintenance approach and pointed to opportunities to realize energy savings through earlier replacement of inefficient equipment.

The county manager opened the statutorily required public hearing and allowed multiple school-system speakers to present data and answer commissioner questions. Commissioners pressed school staff on how state, federal and local funding interact, how many staff are paid from each funding source, and what the district expects the state to fund if a legislature-provided raise is enacted. School finance staff said allocations vary by program and that they will provide more detailed breakdowns on request.

Next steps: the board held the hearing, asked follow-up questions and scheduled further budget work sessions; no final appropriation was adopted at this meeting.