Cherokee County School Board approves FY2026–27 general fund budget and authorizes pay adjustments

At its June 8 meeting, the Cherokee County School Board approved the second and final reading of the FY2026–27 general fund budget to take effect July 1. Administration staff described few revenue changes since the first reading, a reclassification of certain ledger object codes (notably utilities and property trash services), and the removal of two positions from the 'positions added' list. The board voted unanimously to adopt the budget.

Finance staff explained the budget gap and recommended supplementing the budget with fund balance. During discussion, the finance presenter read a fund-balance supplement figure into the record and said the administration recommended using that supplement in order to balance the budget; the number read into the record was reported in the transcript as 3,762,226,226 (as read aloud by staff).

Board members pressed staff on contingency plans should enrollment thresholds change. Finance staff said state funding adjustments tied to the student count will allow the district to add FTEs as needed on the July 1 retroactive funding schedule. On employee pay, the finance presenter said teachers will receive a 3% schedule adjustment plus their annual step increases (resulting in roughly 3.5–5% total depending on step), assistant principals and principals will receive a 4% increase, and other staff will receive a 3% net adjustment; the presenter said these changes were intended to move administrators who were further behind closer to surrounding counties.

The budget vote was recorded as unanimous; the board did not provide a roll-call tally in the public portion of the transcript. The administration said it expects local revenue collections to remain on target and noted stronger-than-anticipated delinquent collections during May that modestly improved the district’s fund-balance outlook.