County school board adopts $52M budget

RUSSELLVILLE Franklin County Schools has adopted a $52 million budget for fiscal year 2026, reflecting a $2.5 million increase over last year.

The budget does not include any raises for personnel.

Chief Financial Officer Carla Knight said 69% of the revenue comes from the state, 12% from federal funds, and 19% from local and other sources.

She said the school system’s cost for employee health insurance rose for the first time in years.

“The PEEHIP health insurance allocation went up this year,” she said. “We’ve been paying $800 a month per employee, and this next year it’s going to $904 a month. That’s $10,848 per year per employee.”

She added that Tier 1 employee retirement also increased by a full percentage point.

Expenditures are primarily for instruction and instructional support.

Knight said as of Aug. 14, the district had 3,312 students enrolled. That number will determine funding for fiscal year 2027, since state funding is based on the previous year’s enrollment.

“We have a total number of employees this year of 562, which includes both certified and support,” she said. “On any given month, counting substitutes, we’ll have about 700 people on payroll.”

Teachers will again receive $1,000 for classroom instructional supplies with funds distributed through ClassWallet.

Knight said the online system has saved time and paperwork while giving teachers flexibility.

“This will be our fourth year in a row of utilizing it [ClassWallet], and it has worked out tremendously well. I have heard very few complaints.”

Advancement and Technology funds increased to $3.8 million, which Knight said is helping the district complete long-term maintenance projects such as replacing school roofs.

A supplemental appropriation also provided $139,124 for after-school programs, allowing Belgreen and Tharptown to continue offerings without charging tuition.

The district added three math coaches this year – at Belgreen, East Franklin and Phil Campbell, bringing the total to five, including current math coaches at Tharptown and Vina.

“They fund us $90,000 each for those math coaches,” Knight said. “The allocation for FY26 is $450,000, and while that won’t quite cover every salary, the benefit of those coaches should far outweigh the cost.”

Knight also addressed two new statewide laws. The Paid Parental Leave Act, effective July 1, gives female employees eight weeks paid leave and male employees two weeks.

“This was a long time coming,” she said. “But the law was effective July 1, and the funding does not start until Oct.1. That means any subs we’ve had to pay from July through September are completely unfunded. We already have five employees out on leave.”

The RAISE Act, meanwhile, changes the state’s funding model by weighting students in categories such as poverty, English learners, gifted and special education.

“Our total RAISE funding is $976,223, but only $536,608 is truly new money,” Knight said. “It’s pretty complicated. They’ve given us the weight percentages, but I haven’t figured out how to make the math work yet.”

Knight praised the district’s ongoing sales tax agreement with the Franklin County Commission but noted it is verbal only.

“We are very fortunate here. Many counties do not get a penny from SSUT (Simplified Sellers Use Tax, or online sales tax revenue), but we do thanks to an agreement with the county commission,” she said.

“It is a verbal agreement, though, and I think we need something in writing to protect the future,” Knight added.

She said FCS receives roughly $35,000 to $36,000 a month from online sales taxes with larger amounts during the holiday season.

The county commission keeps one-third, while the county school system and Russellville City Schools split the remaining two-thirds based on enrollment.