Durham Public Schools Board of Education on Thursday approved the superintendent's recommended budget for fiscal year 2025'26, requesting $222,071,005.27 from the county for current expense and $8 million for capital outlay.

The board voted unanimously after a presentation and extended questioning of Chief Finance Officer Erik Teeter, who said his team had spent months cleaning and correcting the district's budget book, reconciling previously missed positions and creating a new baseline for planning. "We literally open the books," Teeter told the board, describing work to identify unbudgeted positions and understaffing that produced a nearly $34 million shortfall in prior materials.

The discussion focused on how the district will reconcile state funding assumptions, staffing allotment ratios and student-support positions. Teeter said the budget team modeled a 3% state raise for planning purposes but emphasized uncertainty until the General Assembly and the governor finalize the state budget: "When all of that comes to be and we know when that settles ... that affects the state resources that comes our way," he said. Board members asked how that uncertainty would affect local decisions on classified pay, teacher supplements and other priorities.

Board members pressed for clarity on allotments for assistant principals, counselors, media coordinators and interpreters. Teeter said the administration's intent was to protect school-based positions where possible, and that counselor allocations were left unchanged because of the district's mental-health priorities. On media coordinators at some high schools, the administration said it had heard principals' business cases and would maintain two media coordinator allotments at affected schools for the coming year.

Several board members urged the administration to accelerate work on a classified salary study and on clearer, multi-year budget calendars so the board and the public can evaluate long-term tradeoffs. Teeter said he would return with concrete figures and recommended next steps once the state's actions were known. "Our goal would be to get that in front of you at the May 8 meeting to just knock that out," he said regarding substitute pay and related questions.

Following the Q&A the board moved to adopt the superintendent's budget. The motion passed unanimously.

The superintendent's recommended figures will now go to the Durham County manager for inclusion in the county's budget process; the county manager plans to release a recommended county budget in May. The board and county commission must finalize their respective budgets before July 1, the county manager told the board.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the recommendation requesting $222,071,005.27 for current expense and $8,000,000 for capital outlay by unanimous vote.