Cabarrus County Schools publicly unveiled its $107 million proposed 2024-25 budget to the Board of Education during Monday’s budget work session.
The proposed budget is substantially more than the $89 million that was proposed last year. The Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners ultimately approved $81.7 million.
“I understand that the numbers are large but this is what it costs to run your system,” said Superintendent Dr. John Kopicki. “These are the real numbers and that is what we wanted to make sure we communicated to you (the board) this evening.”
The budget, which Chief Financial Officer Phillip Penn went over in great detail, is divided into two main parts: Continuation request ($101,214,006) and Expansion request ($6,278,250).
Some of the key highlights of the proposed budget include:
People are also reading…
An average salary increase of 4% for all certified teachers as stipulated in the state budget approved in September.
Adding two new I.T. field techs and two new behavioral management technicians, which often work with at-risk students to help decrease discipline problems. “In my experience, they have often made the biggest difference on an individual basis with students,” board member Brian Floyd said. “They’re undervalued big time. We could use as many as we can get.”
Funding $483,000 to make up for the loss of federal ESSER funds for key resources including instructional software (Canvas, Edgenuity and Gizmos/Explore Learning) and Second Chance retesting. States and districts received nearly $190 billion in federal funds to support COVID relief and recovery in K-12 schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund. Funding was allocated in three different tranches and states and districts have until Sept. 30, 2024, to obligate the final round of remaining funds.
Increasing certified staff supplement from 12% to 13%. “We are trying to be even more attractive to teachers,” said board member Pam Escobar. “It’s competitive out there. We want to retain the great people we have and then attract the new ones that are coming.”
Implementing recommendations from the classified staff salary study presented to the board during its March 11 meeting, which revealed classified employees are making about 10% below market average. For a total cost of $2.6 million, classified employees will be more accurately compensated, taking into account each staff members’ work history and educational achievements.
Penn also discussed the district’s capital request, which totals $152 million. The bulk of that comes from new construction, which includes $2.5 million for the new Opportunity School, $50.6 million for the new Beverly Hills/Coltrane Webb elementary school and $50.6 million for an additional elementary school to accommodate growth.
The capital request also includes:
$3.6 million in equipment maintenance including increase fuel capacity, security cameras and replacement of outdated televisions and smart boards.
10 capital outlay projects totaling about $1.6 million, though Penn said that number should likely decrease. These include new three activity buses ($450,000), school furniture replacement ($325,000), and fine arts expansion and replacement ($300,000).
36 projects within the $25,000 to $499,000 range, based on ranked priority. The No. 1 project is a $450,000 cooling tower at Jay. M. Robinson High followed by a $498,818 stadium restroom replacement at Concord High. The total cost of the projects is $7.9 million.
10 capital improvement projects totaling close to $35 million. They include: roof replacement at Pitts School Road Elementary ($2 million), roof replacement at Hickory Ridge Middle ($2 million), roof replacement at Carl A. Furr Elementary ($1.3 million), partial HVAC replacement at Concord Middle ($8 million), HVAC replacement at Rocky River Elementary ($9 million), HVAC replacement at Winecoff Elementary ($7 million), parking and drives replacement at Concord High ($1.8 million), parking and drives replacement at Central Cabarrus High ($1.8 million), parking and drives replacement at Wolf Meadow Elementary ($1.5 million) and restrooms/storage/concessions facility work at Concord High ($550,000).
A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held during the Board of Education’s work session on April 8 at 6 p.m. The adoption of the proposed budget will take place during the board’s regular session on April 15 at 6 p.m.