The Bladen County school board is asking the county for an additional $2.1 million to cover increased costs and gaps in federal and state funding.
The district wants $11.3 million from the county for the 2026-2027 fiscal year that begins July 1. That’s up from the $9.1 million the county has set aside for schools each of the past three years.
“Costs are rising but the financial side of it is kind of staying flat,” schools superintendent Jason Atkinson said during a recent meeting. “It makes for a difficult environment to be in.”
But county leaders say they are also struggling to keep up. Commissioners are considering whether to put a quarter-cent sales tax hike on the November ballot.
“We’ve cut back on any expenditures that we felt weren’t necessary. I’m working on some things with our board so we can cut our own fat,” said Cameron McGill, chairman of the Bladen County Board of Commissioners.
As county commissioners across the state work to balance upcoming budgets, they are tasked with addressing schools’ needs. The state pays teacher salaries, but counties supplement pay, build schools, and fill budget gaps.
Tensions between county and school leaders sometimes arise; some say the situation is especially pressing this year because money is tight due to federal and state changes.
The Robeson County school board is considering asking the county for an additional $5.5 million, which would bring the total to about $20.1 million.
The requested increase would include $2.5 million for custodians, substitute teachers, and school resource officers, Erica Setzer, chief financial officer for Public Schools of Robeson County, said during a finance committee meeting on May 6. She said $2 million would help fund services for students with special needs, and $1 million would be used for transportation.
Robeson County ranks last in the state for per-pupil spending, which Setzer said has remained flat for two years.
Tre’ Britt, chairman of the county school board, said that’s unacceptable.
“This is 100 percent to blame on our county commissioners,” Britt said during the finance committee meeting. “That doesn’t put us anywhere close to where we need to be.”
If commissioners approve the proposed request, per-pupil spending would increase from $719.05 to $861.60, Setzer said.
North Carolina is the only state in the country without a budget, although the state’s top Republican lawmakers said Tuesday they reached a deal that cuts taxes and raises teachers’ base pay by an average 8%.
Critics have said the delayed budget has hurt counties–and schools.
“I think we need to be really clear that no state budget means that they’ve given an across the board cut to every program and service in North Carolina,” Alexandra Forter Sirota, executive director of the NC Budget and Tax Center, said during a town hall in Durham this month, The Indy reported. “They have failed to allow funding to keep up with rising costs.”
Federal changes are also a factor. A provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed some operational costs of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program onto states, which North Carolina has passed on to counties. Bladen County faces more than $397,000 in new administrative costs for the program, commonly known as food stamps for low-income families.
Rural counties typically have weaker property tax bases than their urban counterparts, which can pose additional challenges to funding services, including local jails, parks and recreation, and schools.
Bladen County would lose $496,000 if a proposed one-year moratorium on property tax revaluations becomes law, according to a fiscal impact study. The state Senate recently approved the legislation in hopes of offering relief to homeowners whose property values have skyrocketed. The state House has not taken up its own version of the bill.
Scotland County would lose $482,000 under the moratorium, the study shows.
The Scotland County school board isn’t asking for a big increase in funding from the county. It wants an additional $186,000 for an activity bus, $150,000 for three maintenance vehicles, and $100,000 for athletic programs.
Columbus County Schools is asking for nearly $11 million for the upcoming year, up slightly from the $10.7 million it received this year
Bladen school leaders say they are asking the county for more money to fund hard-to-staff positions, supplement pay for athletic coaches, and give pre-kindergarten teachers bonuses.
Atkinson has said the growth of charter schools is pulling money away from public schools.
Bladen County Schools has been working to cut costs. The school board voted earlier this year to close East Arcadia School, which has seen declining enrollment.