GCS Board Approves FY 24 General Fund Budget

Board Presentation Board Packet

The Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees approved the proposed FY 24 General Fund Budget by a 9-3 vote following a public hearing and the budget’s second and final reading. Debi Bush, Michelle Goodwin-Calwile, Lynda Leventis-Wells, Ann Marie Middleton, Glenda Morrison-Fair, Angie Mosley, Anne Pressley, Chuck Saylors and Carolyn Styles voted to approve the motion. Amanda Brett, Jeff Cochran and Sarah Dulin voted against the motion to approve.

The FY 24 budget is balanced, as required by policy, and reflects revenue and expenditures totaling $864,195,000. The budget is based on the State’s proposed budget, which is currently in Conference Committee.

A major focus of the budget is to increase salaries for employees to address inflation and remain competitive in recruiting and retaining the best personnel in all positions. The budget includes a step increase and an additional $2,600 per teacher cell. All other eligible employees will receive a step. If the step is not valued at a minimum of 3.5%, it will be adjusted to equal a 3.5% increase. Employees not eligible for a step will receive a 3.5% increase. To make that investment in teacher and employee salaries, the budget includes a proposed increase of 9 mills in order to meet the needs associated with growth and inflation, which is significantly below the total taxing authority of 34.3 mills available to the Board this year.

In South Carolina, school funding is set up to be a shared responsibility between the State and local taxpayers. However, under the current State law Act 388, taxes for school districts’ general funds are not collected on owner-occupied homes (primary residences) to support the General Fund Budget. Instead, they are collected on other property such as businesses, cars, boats, etc. This results in the value of the operating mill being 38% less than the value of a mill that includes owner-occupied homes.

“This budget reflects a joint commitment by the Board of Trustees and the administration to recruiting and retaining the best talent possible to teach and support our students each and every day,” said Dr. W. Burke Royster, Superintendent of Greenville County Schools. “Student success is contingent upon quality teachers in the classroom, and this budget reflects an investment in those professionals and the resources necessary to ensure our students thrive and are ultimately college- and career-ready.”

Expenditures – Notable new expenditures in the budget include:

• $2,600 increase to every cell on the GCS teacher salary schedule
• A step increase for teachers who worked at least 152 days per year
• Adding a step for teachers at the top of the schedule, resulting in a top pay step for a teacher with a doctorate of $100,947
• All other eligible employees will receive a minimum of a 3.5% increase
• Maintaining all current levels of class size and staffing formulas while addressing continuing growth in student population
• Opening the CTE Innovation Center and rolling out Year 3 at Fountain Inn High School
• Personnel for growth to meet the estimated increase of more than 1,000 students for the 2023-24 school year
• Paid parental leave
• Funding to meet the required increase in employer costs related to healthcare and retirement for employees
• Funding to further enhance school security measures

A complete list of new expenditures is available below:

Potential Expenditures Due to State Mandates: The items shown below are mandated through legislation and total $21,758,000.

Additional Expenditures under Consideration: The following items totaling $46,833,000 million reflect priorities needed to meet local requirements of the Education Plan for FY24.

Reduction of Expenditures: The administration is proposing the following reductions to the General Fund Budget, totaling $620,000.

Total Proposed Budget - $864,195,000