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Superintendent presents draft local budget request including pay supplements, board to review
Summary
The superintendent presented a draft local budget request that proposes modest supplement increases for teachers and administrators, increased classified supplements and bus-driver pay adjustments; the total preliminary local funding request cited was approximately $1.446 million but the superintendent noted state/federal figures remain fluid.
The superintendent presented a draft local budget package and updated the board about district events and staffing priorities.
Superintendent Dr. Bryant opened with district highlights, including a Special Olympics event at Tarboro High and multiple student successes, then shifted to budget priorities. He called retention and recruitment of high-quality educators the district's "number one" priority and proposed the following measures for the board's consideration:
- Raise the teacher supplement from 10% to 11%. - Increase school administrative supplements across the board to raise the lowest-paid administrative supplement to 11%. - Increase the classified supplement from $300 annually to $1,300 annually for certain staff. - Increase athletic supplements for coaches by roughly 10%. - Revise the bus-driver pay supplement schedule with an average hourly increase estimated between 7% and 14% (projected local cost of roughly $180,000). - Add an estimated $300,000 for utilities and other operating increases.
The superintendent said the package of supplement and pay changes accounted for approximately $966,000 of the cited increases, with other adjustments bringing the draft local-request total to about $1,446,000. He cautioned these figures are estimates: the North Carolina General Assembly had released a budget proposal shortly before the meeting and state or federal numbers could change, making the local request "fluid." He reminded the board the district will present a formal local-request package to county commissioners and meet jointly with commissioners on April 22.
Board members asked about strategies to expand the teacher pipeline and whether bus-pay increases would address driver shortages. The superintendent noted the district has expanded its scholar teacher program—now including students from traditional high schools as well as the early college—and described short-term and long-term actions to recruit and retain staff.
The presentation was informational; the district will return to the board for further discussion and to finalize the local-request figures once state and federal numbers are clearer.
