Schools present FY25–26 budget proposal emphasizing staff pay and constrained revenues

Superintendent Trevor Putnam and CFO Leanna Moody presented the Haywood County Schools FY25–26 recommended budget to the Board. Putnam said priorities are to recruit and retain staff, limit expansion in local current expense, and adjust for the end of ESSER funding. The presentation included salary assumptions (5% for certified personnel; 3% for non-certified), employer retirement rate assumptions (24.75%), and an anticipated county per-pupil appropriation of $2,591.43 for approximately 6,370 students. Total anticipated county revenue was cited at $18,654,130 with a planned fund-balance appropriation of $719,483.75 to balance $19,373,617.75 in estimated expenses.

Putnam and Moody also outlined capital priorities totaling $1,250,000 for projects such as roof replacements, HVAC and fire-alarm upgrades, Chromebook replacement cycles and parking/paving work. They described a projected decline in enrollment of 117 students and said that, absent new state funding, the budget relies on limited fund balance to maintain programs. "We are as lean as I would allow us to be," Putnam said, stressing that proposed positions are targeted to preserve academic opportunities. Commissioners asked questions about lottery funding, declining enrollment causes and child nutrition reimbursement rates, and Putnam described continued pursuit of grants and targeted uses of fund balance.