By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
The Escambia County Board of Education approved last week a $61 million operating budget for the fiscal year that began Tuesday, October 1 and runs through September 30, 2025. The financial blueprint includes a state-mandated 2-percent pay increase for employees and is based on projected revenues of $57,153,767.
More than half the revenues (61 percent, $35,002,209) will come from state sources, while $7,329,049 (13 percent) is expected from federal sources, and $14,815,180 (26 percent) from local sources (primarily property taxes, sales taxes, alcohol taxes, tobacco taxes and oil production taxes).
New Chief Schools Financial Officer (CSFO) Avery Ford presented the basics of the budget during two public hearings held last Thursday, September 26. The first was held in Atmore, while the second took place in Brewton, immediately preceding the board’s regular meeting.
Although the budget hearing was open to the public, the only attendees at the Atmore session were Ford, Superintendent of Education Dr. Michele Collier, Administrative Assistant Michelle Lucas, Federal Programs Supervisor Ashley Moseley, Deputy Director of Operations Shawn Goolsby and BOE members Danny Benjamin, Sherry Digmon, Coleman Wallace and Loumeek White.
Ford pointed out that most of the state funding will come from the Alabama Foundation Program, under which financial resources are allocated to schools based primarily on Average Daily Membership (enrollment) for the 20 days following Labor Day for the previous school year.
“This is the key funding area for schools in Alabama, especially our school system,” he said. “It’s the primary funding mechanism for K-12.”
The program provides most of the salaries for teachers, principals, assistant principals counselors and librarians and supplies the funds for purchasing textbooks, supplies, technology and professional development. It also allocates $100 per teacher for classroom supplies.
The county school system will have to provide $4,585,410 in matching funds, bringing the total budget to $61,301,018.
Nearly half the expenditures ($27,622,001) will be for instructional expenses (mostly teacher salaries), and 17 percent ($10,395,040) will be to provide instructional supplies. The next largest expense is operations and maintenance, for which $5,938,788 is budgeted, and county school officials will pay $1,648,885 to service the system’s debt, most of which is for payments on the most recent purchase of new buses.
Avery explained that he chose to deliver the “short version” of the budget, which is more than 100 pages long, because details are readily available to the public at
https://bit.ly/2025BudDocsEsc1, or by using the QR code included here.
The proposed budget later gained 6-0 approval from the board at the regular meeting. District 1’s Kevin Hoomes was unable to attend.