Alamance-Burlington Schools Seek $4.6 Million to Boost Teacher Pay Supplements

The Alamance-Burlington School System has put a $4.6 million ask in front of Alamance County for its fiscal year 2026-2027 budget, with the funds targeted specifically at raising teacher pay supplements in a district that has struggled for years to stay competitive on educator compensation.

The district heads into this budget cycle having received a clean audit and carrying a positive expense fund balance, a turnaround from the financial shortfalls that plagued it in previous years. That improvement comes after a particularly difficult stretch that included a two-week delay to the start of school to remediate mold found at many of its campuses three years ago.

The district is requesting about $4.6 million more than last year's overall budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The request is narrowly focused on pay incentives, a deliberate shift from the broader, larger funding appeals the school system has made in recent years. Last cycle, ABSS sought $5.7 million specifically to increase supplements for employees and restore assistant principal positions to 10 schools, a request that went unfunded by the county.

The district ranks 99th in the state in local funding, a standing that drew pointed criticism at a public hearing on the proposal. "It's a signal to every family looking to live here and every business looking to hire here that we aren't prioritizing our future," said one speaker during Monday night's hearing.

For the current school year, the teacher supplement averages $6,432 for each of 1,562 eligible ABSS teachers, according to state Department of Public Instruction data. Alamance County commissioners have long funded a supplement for teachers, principals, and assistant principals as a percentage added on top of state-funded base salaries, with the rate for teachers calculated according to cumulative years of experience with ABSS.

The path to approval carries significant uncertainty on two fronts. The county must still decide how much to give the district, which received just over $57 million last year, and North Carolina is on day 266 of operating without a state budget, meaning state funding figures remain unsettled. Last year, the county addressed its education budget in June; this time, ABSS is submitting its request a month ahead of its deadline.

The early submission signals that district leadership wants more time to make its case to commissioners, who have repeatedly fallen short of what ABSS has asked for. Board of Education Chair Sandy Ellington-Graves has framed the issue in clear terms: "We just want to make sure that our teachers feel valued and appreciated and be able to give them competitive wages.