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Cherokee County school board opens public hearing on 2026'1027 budget; staff details teacher pay increases
Summary
At a public hearing, district staff outlined a 3% adjustment to the salary schedule and step increases that together boost many teachers' pay by about 4'to 5%; the board approved a procedural amendment to remove a duplicate pledge item and adjourned after the hearing portion.
The Cherokee County School Board of Trustees opened a public hearing on the district's 2026'1027 general fund budget and heard staff explain proposed pay increases for teachers and other budget assumptions.
"Good evening. We now call to order the Cherokee County School Board of Trustees public hearing for the general fund budget," the chair said as the hearing began. The board voted unanimously to approve the meeting agenda with one procedural change: Miss Shakert moved that item No. 2 (a second listing of the pledge of allegiance) be removed from the agenda; Miss Dash seconded and the motion carried.
Finance Director Mr. Pettit reviewed the salary slide, saying the district's budget from 2025''26 to 2026''27 reflects roughly a $1.5 million increase largely driven by personnel costs. "The majority of that salary increase is step increases for teachers and a 3% adjustment to the entire salary schedule," Pettit said; he added that the combination of the schedule adjustment and step movement equates to about a 4'to 5% increase for many teachers.
Board members asked whether the 3% adjustment would be added on top of state-approved rates. Pettit said, "It's an adjustment based on state mandates," and that the district's proposal covers and in some respects exceeds the minimum the state requires. He also said the list of new positions reflected in the proposed budget had changed since the first reading: "the last the first read we took off the finance director and the community engagement director. So these are the remaining positions that are due to the budget," Pettit said.
On the revenue side, staff described projections as conservative estimates based on recent trends in assessed value and noted that the county assessor's final reassessment will determine actual tax revenue. Pettit said higher-than-expected enrollment would raise projected revenue because state funding follows student counts. He also characterized "other local income" (investment interest, facility leasing and similar sources) as an anticipated growth area under a revised investment approach, though exact dollar amounts were not specified.
The chair reminded attendees that the hearing would remain open until 6:00 p.m. for questions and comment and that Mr. Pettit and Dr. Fitzpatrick were available to answer questions. After informal remarks from several attendees, Miss Gman moved to adjourn; a second was recorded and the motion passed unanimously.
No formal vote on the general fund budget was recorded during the portion of the meeting covered by this transcript; the hearing portion was informational and procedural actions taken were limited to the agenda amendment and adjournment.
