Education in particular will see significant cuts from local funding requests in the 2026-27 county budget. Macon County Schools and Southwestern Community College were both topics of discussion at a pair of budget workshops on May 21 and 26.
On May 21, school board members and system administrative staff attended to give an updated presentation on the board’s 2026-27 local request of the county.
MCS Chief Financial Officer Alayna Ledford presented a "maintain budget" to cover current expenses of the system without cutting staff and programs, followed by a “top priorities” budget covering items the board feels it will need to be able to provide now or in the future.
The maintain budget comes up to a total of $14,330,860.69 and includes:
- 7% raise for certified employees ($129,868.36)
- 5% raise for classified employees ($125,630.40)
- $11,885 retirement increase,
- $53,885 hospitalization increase,
- $100,138.60 utility increase,
- $123,465.87 increases to local supplements
- $3,103,653.92 in other operational expenses
Ledford said the other expenses come from a reduction in state allotments to cover several positions, including 3.5 classroom teachers, a program enhancement teacher, instructional support and a teacher and teaching assistant for Highlands pre-K. Ledford said the salary increases are state-mandated, and if the state approves a budget with 8% certified raises, the budget will need to be changed to reflect this. All other expense increases are projected based on a three-year average. The ask amounts to 22.15% of the total county budget from 2025-26.
Ledford’s presentation showed 107.95 positions at the school system covered by local contributions, including 41 certified positions between 37 teachers, three guidance counselors and a media coordinator. 62.95 classified employees — support staff — are typically not covered by the state and include 8.5 bookkeepers and 8.5 data managers, 4.25 receptionists, six teacher assistants, nine maintenance personnel and six custodians alongside technology, office support, human resources, finance and other support staff. Four director positions are also covered by local contributions.
The “Top Priorities” budget adds another $1,474,860.99 to bring the total request up to $15,805,701.68, 24.42% of the 2025-26 county budget. The budget includes $278,199.85 for four instructional coaches to “facilitate curriculum, professional development and support both students and teachers instructionally.” Two full time art teachers and two full time music teachers, costing $278,199.86 total, would ensure each elementary school has its own art and music teacher. $52,000 for PULSE internships would allow seniors to get real-world experience while at school. A $94,482.30 instructional technology facilitator would “support the effective and responsible use of instructional technology, including AI, to enhance teaching practices and improve student academic performance.”
The request also asks for $225,000 to fund school nutrition for Highlands and Franklin High Schools, giving free lunch to students. $278,199.85 for four Exceptional Children teachers and $191,749.47 for four EC personal care assistants would provide support for the MCS EC program and $77,029.66 for a mental health professional at Macon Middle School would help provide counseling to students.
The county’s recommended budget placed total operational spending for the school system at $10,731,569. The county’s recommended budget appropriates $1,150,000 from the county’s fund balance for capital expenses for the school system. The system requested $1,222,584.18. Capital outlay expenses typically cover technology, maintenance, construction and other large, one-time expenses for the system. These funds typically cover milk coolers, buses, radios, scrubbers, floor machines and similar line items.
Ledford’s presentation predicts a future “Maintain” ask of $16,110,626.92 to cover additional costs for new teachers, custodians, maintenance personnel and utility costs at the new Franklin High School and a potential new East Franklin Elementary School. Ledford said the school system's average enrollment going up as a result of the new schools opening may give the system a boost in funding from the state, but the boost may not offset the full staffing needs at the new locations. Future expenses for a new East Franklin Elementary building are estimated at over $36 million, with $96,000 for an assessment of the existing school building and $37,500 for a feasibility study for a location for a new school.
Commissioner Barry Breeden asked what the system’s fund balance was. Ledford said it was $2,851,873 as of the end of the 2024-2025 year and is projected to hit $1,330,052 at the end of the 2025-26 year. Breeden also asked for clarification on the extra teachers the system was asking the county to fund.
Superintendent Josh Lynch said the number comes from a reduction from the state, which can come from earmarked funds being moved to different funds which results in reductions to specific allotments which fund those specific teachers. Ledford said the system did not add any positions.
Breeden said the “majority” of decreases in state funding came from grant funding being cut, which the system knew would be happening anyway and shouldn’t count as a cut.
Lynch said the system typically puts staff onto grant funding to extend the state allotment and “preserve as much local dollars as we possibly can.”
“If we didn’t have that grant funding, we would’ve, of course, been coming here sooner asking for more,” he said. “And we will continue to write grants. I think that that’s just being fiscally responsible, but like you say you are right, grants are not always reliable and you can’t just always depend upon them.”
Commissioner John Shearl asked, “How does the state determine whether these positions are needed or not needed? I mean, if they’re not providing funds, it seems to me like the state, DPI, is saying you’re overstaffed. You don’t need these positions.”
Lynch said the state issues restrictions on class sizes and enforces those restrictions, but does not always fund the staff required for these restrictions. He said the school system often has to take teachers from the 4th-6th grade level to cover a void of teachers in the K-3 level to meet state requirements.
“We basically have to rob Peter to pay Paul,” Lynch said.
Shearl and Breeden said funding Highlands pre-K should not be in the budget, and Shearl said pre-K should be privately funded. Shearl asked what the system would do if the county and state does not provide the funding requested by the system.
“We would have to sit down and make some really hard decisions,” Lynch said. “The last thing I want to do is send people home. So you look at programs, you look at areas such as technology. There are other entities that we would have to pull from, which is going to really hurt the schools. The services they’re currently receiving, they just would not be able to receive at that level.”
May 26
No school system personnel were able to attend the Tuesday, May 26, budget workshop, where the conversation continued.
Commissioner Gary Shields said he would like to see the school system go through its top priorities budget and see if it can find the money to fund the additional staff for the EC program, which he said he believes will see higher enrollment in the 2026-27 year, even if it means they have to cut out maintain budget expenses. He said it was a big request, but he thought it was important to keep the school system in compliance with federal law.
Breeden said he would like to see Macon County use the same system Jackson County uses, where the county dictates what expenses the school system is allowed to use its local appropriation for. He added the school system’s operational expenses have gone up significantly in recent years, from $8.3 million in 2019 to $10.6 in 2026.
“It seems like they do the same thing that’s happened in county government,” Shearl said. “A position would be funded by grants, and once that grant money is gone, then they expect local dollars to kick in to keep funding that position.”
Shearl said he contacted someone in Raleigh to ask about the schools' reduction and was told the state did not issue any cuts that would impact the school system at the county level.
“They also said that … the money that Macon County pumps into the school system, we should be tracking that money and earmarking that without just giving it to them,” he said. “Where does it end? I mean, it’s easy to say ‘yeah, just keep going,’ but to me if there are positions that are really required or mandated by the state, the state’s going to fund it.”
Shearl added if the system does need to make cuts because of lack of funding, it should eliminate teachers rather than programs.
The board agreed to move money from the fund balance to give the school system a total operating contribution of $11,814,471.
After the budget meeting, in response to questions from the Press, Lynch said the system does not create new positions simply because new grant funding has been made available, but rather moves existing positions onto the grant funding for as long as the grant funding exists.
He said, “This approach helps us be fiscally responsible by stretching our local allotments and ensuring that limited local funds can support priorities that may not qualify for grant funding. However, grant funding is often temporary, restricted in scope, or subject to change from year to year. When grant funding is reduced, expires, or becomes unreliable, we must transition those positions back into our regular budget to maintain the services and staffing levels our students and schools depend on. In other words, the positions themselves are not new positions created by grants; they are existing, necessary positions that have temporarily been supported by grant funds when available. When those funds are no longer available, the positions must be included in the local budget request to avoid losing them.”