Sumter County leaders outline FY27 budget changes; board presses staff on staffing cuts, summer school funding and capital estimates

The Sumter County School District presented highlights of its proposed FY27 budget during a board meeting, and board members pressed staff for details about staffing reductions, capital estimates and next-year funding for summer school.

Chief Financial Officer Miss Spearman said the revised expenditures estimate was reduced from roughly $9.3 million in the first-reading figures to about $8.4 million in the current presentation; she also said a proposed expansion of parental leave (from six to 12 weeks) was removed after staff was told it likely would not pass, which accounted for roughly a $500,000 adjustment. The presentation included requests to reclassify or add positions in procurement and safety where single-person staffing exists.

Board members asked for detail on a previously discussed $3 million estimate to build a wait room at Sumter High School. Staff said the $3 million figure came from an architect’s $450-per-square-foot estimate applied to an assumed 8,000-square-foot facility, but that square footage, bids and a definitive scope have not been finalized and the project was paused until a project manager was in place.

A board member asked about mandated state increases for bus drivers (a 2% figure was mentioned); staff said the precise starting-pay effect would be provided later. Members also pressed staff about security staffing at events and said they planned a meeting with county leaders to set clear expectations for number of officers and minimum-hour billing practices.

On staffing, staff said the budget reductions produced a net elimination of about 30–32 positions compared with the previous budget cycle; the transcript records a stated savings of roughly $1,668,000 from positions not filled. The board debated whether eliminations were need-based (to maintain state-mandated teacher–student ratios) versus across-the-board cuts; staff said the eliminations matched enrollment and ratio requirements and that new hires and reclassifications (presented as a $997,331 figure in the discussion) were targeted toward strategic needs such as a marketing coordinator and assistant principal positions.

Funding for summer school next year was discussed at length. Staff said the district is currently covering around $250,000 of summer instruction costs with Title I and other state funds but that some of those funding sources may not be available next year; that uncertainty is the reason staff requested $1 million in the FY27 proposal to ensure program continuity, with transportation costs singled out as the largest outstanding unknown. Staff reported the district is operating six transportation sites for summer programming plus a separate program at Rapton Creek.

Finally, staff presented May 2026 financial activity: local revenue for the month was reported at about $1,279,355, collections were close to budgeted levels, and the district had not yet received a $5,000 handicap-transportation line item or homestead-exemption Tier 2 monies that typically arrive at year end.

Why it matters: The budget discussion frames staffing, program-level priorities and capital decisions for the coming year. Board members’ requests for concrete figures (teacher counts, per-hour wage impacts and finalized capital scopes) indicate follow-up work is needed before second reading and final adoption.

What’s next: Staff said it will return with more precise numbers (starting pay calculations for bus drivers, specific teacher counts and finalized capital scopes); the board is preparing for a second reading of the FY27 budget.