{"id":94,"date":"2026-05-13T04:08:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=94"},"modified":"2026-05-13T04:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:08:30","slug":"at-long-last-cms-passes-a-2-1-billion-budget-for-next-school-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=94","title":{"rendered":"At long last, CMS passes a $2.1 billion budget for next school year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education passed a $2.1 billion budget<\/a> for next school year in a unanimous vote, after a surprise rejection last month and several, sometimes tense<\/a>, meetings that followed.<\/p>\n

Read more Charlotte prosecutor clears police who killed man after he kidnapped and killed<\/a><\/p>\n

The total dollar amount, including a proposed $25.1 million increase from Mecklenburg County, hasn\u2019t changed after Superintendent Crystal Hill\u2019s first draft was presented in March. However, how the money is allocated has shifted, including more set aside for teacher raises and a new social and emotional learning program for the district.<\/p>\n

CMS board members previously spiked Hill\u2019s first budget proposal<\/a> in an 8-1 vote at its April 28 regular board meeting. They asked for several adjustments, including closing achievement gaps between student groups and taking a different approach to student well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next draft, we want to make sure that we are particularly paying attention to closing educational gaps,\u201d CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed told The Charlotte Observer April 28. \u201cWe want to make sure we\u2019re talking about social and emotional learning as well and making sure we have the right resources and avenues for our educators in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

It left Hill with a tight deadline: State law requires CMS to present a budget proposal to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners by May 15.<\/p>\n

Hill and the board held a budget planning meeting Friday that got a bit \u201csnippy,\u201d as CMS Board Vice Chair Dee Rankin put it. Some board members said Hill presented information they wished they\u2019d seen sooner. Others described feeling they were being talked down to.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, though, mere hours before Hill presented her new budget recommendation, state lawmakers reached a long-awaited agreement on the state budget<\/a>. Prior, North Carolina was the only state in the country to have not passed a budget for this year.<\/p>\n

In its plan, lawmakers agreed on average raises of 8% for teachers, they told reporters Tuesday afternoon. It\u2019s the highest pay increase NC teachers have received since 2006.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also much higher than CMS projected.<\/p>\n

In the end, board members said Tuesday they were confident in the budget that resulted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was well worth working through that process,\u201d Sneed said. \u201cI was confident that we would come out on the other end of this with a better budget… And, I think that\u2019s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a state budget, CMS based its estimates on past data, which suggested the state will fund raises of about 3%. That\u2019s the figure Hill used in crafting her first budget proposal, but it was just an assumption. And, it turns out it was an incorrect one.<\/p>\n

The challenge is that around 2,700 CMS positions are entirely funded by the county, not the state. Those are roles CMS created out of need, even though North Carolina does not fund them.<\/p>\n

The state will only provide funding for raises to state-funded roles, not county-funded employees. For them, CMS has to use local funds to match the pay increases the state gives the rest of the district\u2019s employees.<\/p>\n

In Hill\u2019s new proposal, she assumed a 5% raise from the state. The district cut central office positions and part-time roles to free up enough cash to fund raises of up to 6% for county-funded employees. With the state planning on 8% raises, though, CMS may have to find some more wiggle room in order to match them.<\/p>\n

The district can\u2019t simply ask for more money from Mecklenburg County, Hill told board members Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county has essentially told us that they have a specific growth number for CMS\u2026 I can exceed it if I want to, but the likelihood of the county manager including that in his budget would be slim to none,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

Instead, the district may have to make cuts elsewhere.<\/p>\n

And, it gets more complicated still. The state doesn\u2019t plan to give 8% raises to all school employees, only \u201ccertified\u201d ones. Those include teachers. \u201cNon-certified\u201d employees, like bus drivers, cafeteria workers, etc., are slated to get raises of 3% from the state.<\/p>\n

Read more If a copperhead bites your dog, here\u2019s what NC veterinarians say you should do<\/a><\/p>\n

CMS has a roughly even split between certified and non-certified staff, so CMS will have to adjust some of its calculations after the state budget is final.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to wait for additional clarification before running our final calculations,\u201d said Kelly Kluttz, CMS Chief Financial Officer. \u201cOnce the state budget is finalized, we will return to the board for an approval of an amended budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Kluttz said, the district may be safe with its current estimates.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the preliminary calculations we\u2019ve done internally,… if the numbers fall where they did today, we will not have to make additional cuts if the state comes in at 8%,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you look about look at half of your employees getting a 3% increase, and half of your employees get an 8% increase,… I think we\u2019re going to end in a very nice place. But, we still need confirmation. \u201c<\/p>\n

Hill\u2019s new recommendation doesn\u2019t just assume state raises of 5% rather than 3%. It also shakes up the district\u2019s approach to social and emotional learning.<\/p>\n

Since 2023, CMS has used a program called Capturing Kids\u2019 Hearts, which aims to improve well-being and school culture. At its April 28 meeting, board members questioned whether the program is worth the $2.4 million it would cost the school district this year to implement.<\/p>\n

Hill\u2019s new recommendation will scrap Capturing Kids\u2019 Hearts entirely. Instead, it will reallocate $1.6 million to rolling out a more school-centered approach. That will include training employees on how to identify and respond to mental health crises among students as well as creating the district\u2019s own social and emotional learning framework called \u201cGot Your Back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The remaining $800,000 will go toward mental health and behavioral support for students.<\/p>\n

Hill\u2019s new plan will also reinstate four Department of Social Services liaisons that work to help the district\u2019s students currently in foster care.<\/p>\n

The county has historically paid for those roles, but it will no longer fund the positions next school year. Hill\u2019s initial budget plan eliminated their positions and reassigned their duties. However, board and community members alike said they worried about how losing those workers would affect students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe liaisons are not simply administrative positions,\u201d Elizabeth Trosch, a Mecklenburg County juvenile court judge told the board Tuesday. \u201cWhen I first became a judge, the kids that I saw in foster care were failing out, or they were truant. But, the kids that are in foster care here in Mecklenburg County today are succeeding because of the intentional supports that these liaisons are able to coordinate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s budget plan will also move a handful of teaching roles from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Virtual Academy to high-need schools and set aside an additional $100,000 for family engagement strategies.<\/p>\n

Hill still plans to request $25.1 million more from Mecklenburg County, toward a total operating budget of $1.97 billion. That\u2019s a 0.8% increase over this year.<\/p>\n

CMS\u2019 enrollment decreased this school year by about 2,500 students, bringing its total student population to about 140,000. The decrease in students also means a decrease in state funding for next school year. That\u2019s a big deal since the district gets the bulk of its money \u2013 about 54.6% \u2013 from the state.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s solution is to hire about 10% fewer new employees<\/a> over the summer than it typically does. That means hiring around 1,800 new employees rather than 2,000.<\/p>\n

CMS\u2019 new plan also still includes the same planned increases to teacher pay supplements.<\/p>\n

While CMS doesn\u2019t have control over the state salary schedule, the locally-funded supplement is the lever it pulls to adjust teacher pay and make the district more competitive in the job market. Hill\u2019s budget asks the county for a 5% increase in teacher supplements, which currently range from about $8,000 to $14,000.<\/p>\n

Read more Watch as 400-pound alligator takes on 4 North Carolina officers in tug-of-war<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools passed a budget reallocating funds for teacher raises, a new 'Got Your Back' social-emotional plan and restored foster care liaisons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nAt long last, CMS passes a $2.1 billion budget for next school year - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=94\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At long last, CMS passes a $2.1 billion budget for next school year - 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