School budget approved as fund balance picture improves

Board also approved a Hoops Club request to pursue a retractable gym flag in memory of Frank Fletcher

7:19 p.m. June 8, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Moore County school officials expect to end the year in better financial shape than projected, after a budget amendment reduced the expected fund balance by nearly $300,000.

In one vote, the board unanimously approved the amended 2025-26 budget, next year’s school system budget, the cafeteria budget, and salary schedules. Voting yes were Carrie Barnett, Ed Cashion, Jammie Cashion, Kaleigh Hatfield, and Tanya Vann.

Director of Schools Chad Moorehead told board members the current-year budget originally projected the district would use $544,724 from fund balance.

The amended budget lowers that number to $246,201. That would leave the school system with an estimated June 30 fund balance of $1,157,574.

Even that number may be conservative.

The district also expects about $273,000 in fast-growth money and outcomes funding tied to the previous year's test scores. Those dollars are not reflected in the revenue line of the amended budget.

Once the year closes in July, Moorehead said the school system expects to put money back into the fund balance rather than draw from it.

“So we’re in good shape there,” he told the board.

Moorehead said the district has watched expenses closely, especially after a tight stretch in the fall before property tax collections began coming in.

“We’ve been pretty tight, actually, for the last couple of years,” he said.

No tax-rate increase requested

The 2026-27 school budget does not ask for an increase in the local tax rate, Moorehead told the board. The only projected increase in local revenue comes from growth in the penny, he said.

Board members asked whether the Metro Council might have concerns about the district’s fund balance. Moorehead said the state requires school systems to keep at least 3% of total expenditures in fund balance. The Comptroller’s Office prefers that number to be closer to 15%.

The school system’s projected ending fund balance for 2026-27 is a little more than 6%.

Moorehead said he had not received pushback from the county Budget Committee on that number.

Cafeteria budget, salary schedules approved

The board also approved the 2026-27 cafeteria budget. Moorehead said lunch collections and USDA reimbursements fund the cafeteria budget, not local tax dollars.

The budget includes a 3% raise for cafeteria employees, matching the increase included for other school employees. Board members also approved the 2026-27 salary schedules, including coaching positions and supplemental pay.

A separate vote approved the district’s differentiated pay plan, which Moorehead said is required by law. He said the plan has worked well for the district and continues to meet state requirements.

Gym flag approved in memory of Frank Fletcher

The board also approved a request from the Hoops Club to pursue the purchase and installation of a retractable United States flag in the gymnasium. The project would be funded through donations made to the Hoops Club in memory of Frank Fletcher, along with additional money from Fletcher’s family.

The flag is expected to cost about $5,000. It would hang in the middle of the gym and retract when not in use.

A plaque may also be placed in the gym to explain that the project was completed in Fletcher’s memory.

The board approved the request 4-0, with Kaleigh Hatfield abstaining; Frank was her father.

In other business:

• Newly-named MCHS Principal Andy Giel was in attendance and introduced to the board and guests.

• Moorehead said the district received just under $17,000 through a state school safety grant. Some of that money was used to install bollards – short, sturdy vertical posts used to enhance security by blocking vehicles from pedestrian areas – near doors and the car rider area at Lynchburg Elementary School. The bollards are already in place, though they have not yet been painted.