Haywood schools requests an extra $3 million in county funding
The increased funding will sustain, not expand, HCS programs.
File photo
For fiscal year 2026-2027, Haywood County Schools is requesting an additional $3 million in annual county funding.
The ask is driven by several overlapping needs — offsetting state and federal cuts, avoiding fund balance appropriations, covering a $400,000 increase in annual operating costs, financing salary raises and supporting continued program needs — all while facing a budget shortfall between $700,000 and $740,000.
The requested appropriations would require a 4.29-cent property tax increase, equivalent to an additional $12 per month for the average homeowner.
The HCS board held a March 26 work session to discuss the funding increase in conjunction with county commissioners and a March 30 public hearing to explain the changes impacting its projected FY 2026-27 expenditures. The board voted unanimously to approve its budget request at the March 30 meeting.
HCS’ 2025-26 local budget totaled $19.37 million, with $719,483 derived from its fund balance, $345,000 in fines and forfeitures, $24,000 in ABC revenues, and $18.29 million in county appropriations.
The district projects a 2026-27 operating budget of $21.54 million, $21.29 million of which will be provided by the county. When divided by enrollment numbers, the budget allots an average of $3,052 per student, about $500 more than the current fiscal year.
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Haywood County’s average daily membership — a single measure of total enrollment at county public and charter schools the year prior — was set at 7,034 this fiscal year and 6,934 for the next. However, public schools only lost 11 students, with enrollment counts of 6,370 and 6,359, respectively, in the last two years.
Superintendent Trevor Putnam was clear that additional appropriations were necessary for the school system to maintain — rather than expand — existing programs. If HCS were to keep last year’s budget, Putnam told commissioners that more than 25 teaching positions would be cut, class sizes would increase, staff would be strained and special education student services restricted.
Most of the requested additional funding is connected to the school system’s 2025 classified and non-certified salary study. Its results align the salaries of these two employment categories with the North Carolina Office of Human Resources schedule.
“[This] is designed to strengthen our ability to attract and retain qualified employees,” said HCS Finance Director Leanna Moody.
Similarly, the 1% increase in child nutrition funding mainly goes toward greater benefits and compensation for employees and substitutes.
The department “use[s] substitutes quite regularly and usually do[es] not have enough substitutes to fill in, in those positions,” said Director Alison Francis, adding that she’s grateful for a more robust 2026-27 budget.
Indeed, employees are the main benefactors of local district appropriations in North Carolina. At HCS, 45% of local funding is allocated to salaries, with 20% toward employee benefits and purchase services like utilities and maintenance, leaving the remaining 35% to every other line item.
Professional compensation is also one of the main drivers of educational inequality among school districts statewide. Competitive pay strengthens educational outcomes by mitigating staffing shortages and retaining experienced teachers.
Counties fund salary supplements, so high-wealth districts — typically those with a large tax base — tend to offer better pay than their low-wealth counterparts, even though the state provides the latter group with up to $4,250 in additional supplements.
In the 2023-24 school year, Haywood County offered a supplement of $2,968. Wake County, with the highest locally funded supplement, offered $9,828.
Still, HCS maintains high academic performance, consistently ranking in the top 10% of North Carolina school systems.
As the school board requests a significant increase in local appropriations, Haywood commissioners are grappling with strained existing funding.
The county has yet to receive more than $17 million in federal Hurricane Helene reimbursements. Reduced tax collections total between $250,000 and $300,000. There’s been an absence of funding dedicated to SNAP Medicaid and other federal and state services. Revenues have plateaued despite a growing community, and with the closure of Canton’s papermill, the county lost a tax base of $190 million.
At the state level, the General Assembly still hasn’t passed a budget, so yearly mandated stepwise salary increases are optional at the discretion of the local education agency and dictated by the 2024-2025 pay scale. Teachers on average have received 1% less pay this year without accounting for inflation, according to the NC Department of Instruction.
Next year doesn’t look much better either.
“The fiscal year [20]27 state planning budget that — this was released from the state — includes reductions across several areas, including teacher assistant funding, central office allotments and teacher positions, which results in a combined impact of approximately $350,000,” Moody told other board members.
And North Carolina is set to face a $3.5 billion budget shortfall — which Gov. Josh Stein has warned poses the largest threat to public school systems — one year after that.
HCS plans to pass a resolution outlining the $3 million funding request and mandating the 4.29 cent property tax increase in early April, which members will present to commissioners on April 20.
