Charleston County board adopts FY27 budget with teacher pay increases and special-education investments

The Charleston County School District board voted to adopt the fiscal year 2027 budget after trustees and district staff described a package the administration said is focused on classroom instruction and workforce retention. Leah Watley moved the recommendation for a second reading and final adoption; Carla Bailey seconded and the motion passed on a unanimous vote.

Supporters said the budget’s central priorities are teacher compensation and student supports. “My vote on this budget is a decisive yes,” Trustee Leah Watley said during the second-reading discussion, saying the plan is “student focused” and “balanced.” The district’s finance presentation explained that the budget raises the district’s starting teacher base to $67,500 for teachers placed at step five and applies a $2,718 across-the-board adjustment to the salary schedule.

Superintendent Na Huggin and district finance staff framed those increases as part of a multi-year compensation strategy intended to improve recruitment and retention. Mr. Prince, who led finance presentations during the meeting, said the $67,500 base and schedule adjustments were set after market comparisons and were paired with step increases and other scale movement to protect veteran teachers’ compensation.

Trustees also highlighted larger programmatic commitments embedded in the FY27 plan. The budget keeps the district’s operating millage rate steady, preserves a fund-balance policy, and continues the weighted student funding program that trustees described as the mechanism directing roughly tens of millions of dollars toward students in poverty, multilingual learners and students with disabilities.

Board members and administrators pointed to a roughly $3.2 million injection labeled for the Office of Exceptional Children and noted partnerships such as MUSC Thrive as part of a broader approach to special-education supports. District leaders cautioned that some challenges will require multi-year attention and that staffing and programmatic changes will be monitored.

The administration also outlined transparency measures tied to the final document: the district said it will publish the completed budget in the same interactive format used for the proposed budget and launch a public transparency portal that will show budget-to-actual information and refresh nightly.

The board adopted the budget by voice vote after trustees completed remarks. The superintendent said staff would post the final file and the portal information ahead of the new fiscal year starting July 1.

What’s next: The district will begin implementing the FY27 allocations on July 1 and said it will continue to provide monthly budget reporting and other public transparency tools.