BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Brunswick County Schools Board of Education approved a teacher raise Tuesday, adding a recurring $500 to the district’s local supplement budget.
The district had initially planned to increase its local supplement for certified employees by $1,000 before the pandemic.
Related: In one year, Brunswick County Schools has more than doubled local supplement budget for staff
Because the increase is budgeted annually as opposed to a one-time payment, board members Gerald Benton and Charlie Miller voiced concerns about forking over additional funds while funding streams remain unsteady. Benton, the lone dissenting vote on the item, also raised concerns about leaving classified employees like bus drivers and custodial staff out of the raise.
The $500 recurring certified local supplement increase will cost BCS $691,000 annually. Chair Ellen Milligan initially motioned to amend the budget to include a $500 recurring and $150 one-time bonus for certified employees, which would have cost the district $863,000. Milligan dropped the one-time $150 payment after board member Ed Lemon voiced concerns about bonuses.
About 34% of BCS’s total budget in 2019-2020 — $42.8 million out of $125 million — is derived from local Brunswick County sales and property taxes. A majority of the budget ($80 million) comes from state funding.
While the bulk of employee pay comes from state funding, local salary supplements allow school districts to provide cost-of-living adjustments and boost pay to remain competitive or on par with adjacent school districts.
BCS Chief Finance Officer Freyja Cahill explained to the board that the budget for the current academic year is solid, given that revenues are based on the year prior. Next year’s budget is more uncertain, due to an expiring contract with Brunswick County and a reliance on revenues impacted by the pandemic.
“Next year is when we’re going to see potentially a hit,” Cahill said.
Though he voted in favor of the item, Miller said he’d prefer to be careful while approving a recurring change while revenues are down.
“I agree but basically we never know from year to year what might change anyway,” Milligan responded.
A one-time boost for all employees, both certified and classified, would have cost $909,000, according to figures provided by Cahill. Benton suggested BCS instead pass this version of the supplement as a one-time amendment to include all employees and to prevent the possibilities of future shortfalls.
“I’d like to include our classified people because they’re the people who are in the schools every day, they’re the ones cleaning the doorknobs and the things that are coughed on and working hard here,” Benton told the board. “Ongoing, I just don’t want to shortfall us.”
In turn, Milligan said increases for classified employees were recently implemented. “I believe that we have treated everyone fairly at this point in time,” she said.
Watch the full Sept. 1 meeting.
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