Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees approved the first reading of the $989.4 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2027 on May 5.
The recommended budget for next fiscal year, which starts July 1, does not include a tax increase. According to GCS, this will be the fifth time in 11 years that the school district’s millage has not been raised.
Superintendent Burke Royster explained that the general fund budget provides the resources to employ and retain the quality personnel needed to support the district’s students. Teachers are expected to receive a $2,550 salary increase based on the recommended FY27 budget, a jump from the $2,450 initially proposed at the budget workshop in April.
Each teacher would also get a salary step increase. A 38th step is proposed to be added to the teacher salary schedule, which determines an educator’s salary based on their years of experience. All other employees are expected to receive a $3.5% salary increase or a step increase, whichever is greater.
Two new line items in the recommended budget adjust the salaries of the district’s principals and assistant principals. The budget includes $136,000 to add an additional $1,000 to the principal salary schedule after the 3.5% increase is applied. Funding has also been budgeted to adjust the salary schedule and increase the entry-level pay for assistant principals.
Royster explained that the entry-level salaries for assistant principals currently sit slightly below or barely above the average teacher salary. He said the recommended changes would create an appropriate gap between the annual salary of a classroom teacher and that of an assistant principal. It would also create more distance between the annual salaries of assistant principals and principals.
“Increasing the competitiveness for assistant principal and principal pay is important,” Royster said. “At the school level, while a teacher … has the deepest impact on student achievement, a principal, a quality principal, has the broadest impact on student achievement.”
Special education funding
The proposed budget also emphasizes expanding the school district’s special education services and personnel. Funding has been budgeted for GCS to hire four special education specialists, 10 special education aides, three behavior specialists, five behavior support liaisons, one school psychologist and one occupational therapist. The salaries of 15 existing mental health counselors in the school system would also be covered in the recommended budget.
The school district plans to adjust the salary scale for special education aides, raising the hourly pay range to $20 to $23.50. In addition, special education aide substitutes are anticipated to receive a 6% pay increase, raising the hourly rate to $17.46.
A new state-mandated line item was also added to the district’s recommended budget regarding the proposed changes to paid parental leave legislation in South Carolina. The amendment would double the paid parental leave for primary caregivers working for the school district to twelve weeks and for co-parents to four weeks.
The school district has set aside $1.6 million to fund these potential changes if the state General Assembly passes the amended legislation without additional state funding. Royster said that if the legislation does not pass, the district intends to bring back a recommendation to the school board to use the budgeted funding to further increase the pay for teachers and other employees.
Other expenditures in the proposed FY27 general fund budget include:
- $1.36 million for the increase in state health insurance premiums for July to December 2026
- $955,000 for salary increases for teachers who attain an additional degree or a certificate upgrade
- $707,000 for 15 permanent substitute teacher positions at schools struggling to fill teacher absences
- $673,000 for increases to existing service and supply contract costs
- $617,000 to fund additional teacher and instructional aide positions at Reedy Laurel Elementary
- $335,000 for transportation technology costs due to loss of federal E-Rate funding
- $262,000 to increase substitute teacher pay by 6%
- $262,000 for district property and liability insurance premiums
- $258,000 for existing academic contract costs
- $111,000 for bus driver compensation based on years of experience
GCS plans to realign staffing positions for the upcoming school year in response to the projected reduction in student enrollment. The staffing adjustments are reflected in the proposed budget as a $15.5 million reduction in personnel costs. The recommended budget also includes reductions regarding changes to athletic trainer fees, the international teachers program and the wireless service provider.
A public hearing for the school district’s FY27 general fund budget will be held at 6 p.m. on June 1. The second and final reading of the budget will be held following the public hearing at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, visit greenville.k12.sc.us/News/main.asp?titleid=2605budget.
