Board of Education Adopts Budget Resolution 

Despite the General Assembly not yet passing a biennium budget for 2025-26, the Guilford County Board of Education has proceeded in passing a budget resolution for the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2025.  

The Guilford County Schools (GCS) budget resolution reflects funding received from the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, which approved its budget on June 18, 2025. That budget included an increase in funding of $12.3 million over the previous year. Of this, $4.8 million was earmarked for specific uses – $3 million to increase the salaries of classified staff employees, and $1.8 million to be used for safety and security projects such as the touchless scanners used at middle and high school entrances. The remaining $7.5 million in county funds will be used to help cover the $10.5 million in projected “legally required and sustaining operations” cost increases, such as utility increases and the growth in charter school enrollment.  

Classified employees are those who are not required to have a professional certification to perform their jobs. This includes bus drivers, office support personnel, teaching assistants, data managers, custodians and child nutrition workers, among others. Certified employees are those who hold a professional license such as teachers, principals, assistant principals and other licensed staff such as social workers and counselors.  

In May, GCS requested an increase of more than $31 million from the county, including more than $26.7 million for salary increases for both classified and certified staff, an additional $1.5 million for safety and security projects and an additional $3 million to pay for legally required increases and to maintain current operations as costs rise. This includes a 2.7% increase in the retirement rate and a 5% increase in the health insurance rate.  

To bridge the gap between the district’s request and the amount received, and given the uncertainty with the state budget, GCS has realigned more than $4.9 million in local dollars. This includes hiring only the highest-need positions and redistributing staff caseloads as needed.  

The North Carolina General Assembly provides the majority of public education funding. In the absence of a full state budget, lawmakers passed a mini-budget bill in August that allowed for increases in hospitalization and retirement benefit rates. It also provided pay increases for experience, also called “step” pay increases, for certified employees but not for classified employees. With the passing of the budget resolution, GCS will update classified salaries using the allocated state and local funds.  

Federal funds have also been uncertain this academic year, adding to the difficulty of district planning and budgeting. In late June, funds were withheld and then released in late July.  

“There are still many unknowns related to state and federal dollars, but we cannot operate efficiently without passing a budget resolution,” said Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley. “We owe it to our staff and students to fund projects and increase compensation where we can, using the information we have available at this time.” 

The district’s budget summary and comparison to previous years can be found here. The budget resolution can be found here.