Trustees Extend Free Lunches; Purchase Hospitable Beds, Tech Carts
By: Jeremy Handel, Staff Writer
jeremy@thewoodrufftimes.com
The Spartanburg County District Four Board of Trustees approved the final reading of the 2026 – 2027 fiscal budget at their annual budget hearing. The board gave the go-ahead on $42.8 million for the coming fiscal year.
This is a 13 percent, or nearly $5 million, increase over last year, driven mostly by higher salaries and benefits for all district employees. The state legislature approved a $2,000 increase per cell for teachers, which equates to approximately 3 percent. The district also approved a 3 percent increase for all employees.
In addition to the district budget, trustees also approved the new fiscal year budgets for R.D. Anderson, McCarthy-Teszlar, and the Spartanburg County Alternative School. All of these budgets also experienced increases due to increased salaries and benefits.
In other business, the board approved a resolution to continue participating in the Community Eligibility Provision Program, which allows all students to receive free qualifying breakfast and lunch. The district qualified for 99+ percent reimbursement under the federal program under the current agreement.
The government’s latest calculations revised the district’s eligibility to just over 91 percent, but the district had the option to stay at 99 percent for one more year and see what the new calculation would be next year. The board chose to stick with full reimbursement.
Trustees also approved the purchase of three hospital beds for use in health science labs at the new high school. The contract for the beds is for $60,535. They also approved $87,085 for the purchase of 45 technology carts for all K-5 teachers. The carts are for storing and charging laptops as schools move away from allowing students to take them home.
Finally, the board approved the officers for the parent-teacher organization for the new intermediate school. The nominations had inadvertently been left off the item at the last meeting. The officers approved are Kristen Wood, president; Stormy Smith, Vice President; Kim Foster, Secretary; Heather Bailey, treasurer and financial officer.
