The Moore County Board of Commissioners heard a presentation on the proposed school budget at its agenda meeting on May 6.
Moore County Schools Assistant Superintendent for Budget and Finance Tina Edmonds reviewed the 2025-2026 proposed budget’s costs and funds, totaling $165,806,080.
View the school board budget presentation here.
The budget reflects a 2% increase for salaries and benefits. The state’s health insurance mandate prevents counties from seeking lower prices.
Due to bus constraints impacting student arrival times, Board of Commissioners Chairman Kurt Cook questioned the need for Moore Innovative High School on the Sandhills Community College campus, suggesting vocational classes be offered at the three existing high schools instead.
Superintendent Tim Locklair said the new high school will offer advanced classes, like cybersecurity and architecture, and the existing high schools already teach vocational courses, such as masonry, construction, agriculture, health sciences, and marketing.
Cook said students who have long-term friendships will regret being separated from “their herd.”
The commissioners will vote on adopting the school budget on June 19.
In old business, County Attorney Misty Leland reviewed land use laws letters for the General Assembly she constructed on behalf of Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Nick Picerno and Cook, and the board passed, sending the letters in a narrow vote.
The letters ask why House Bill 765, which removes county voting on land development and awards it to the state, originated:
“The Moore County Board of County Commissioners requests to know the reason behind all the significant changes in land use regulation impacting North Carolina local governments, including the downzoning legislation passed last year, the pending bill eradicating ETJ, and the pending omnibus House Bill 765,” the first letter prompted by Picerno reads.
The second letter on behalf of the board of commissioners reads:
“The Moore County Board of County Commissioners is writing to express the same sentiment the municipalities of Moore County expressed in a recent letter to the Moore County Legislative Delegation regarding Session Law 2024-57, the recent down-zoning legislation, which passed in December of 2024. This law cripples local governments’ ability to engage in smart planning for future growth and development, especially in Moore County which is the 10th fastest growing county in North Carolina. Although all local governments are impacted, the passage of this law directly impacts the implementation of the proposed Moore County Land Use Plan that a committee of 34 Moore County citizens have been working on for approximately 9 months. Although Land Use Plans are not impacted by down-zoning, making all the necessary changes to the Unified Development Ordinance to be consistent with the proposed Land Use Plan would be extremely difficult if not impossible due to the new down-zoning legislation.
Further, House Bill 765 – the Local Government Development Regulations Omnibus Bill – and, other land use regulation bills, further hampers N.C. local governments’ ability to operate effectively due to increased restrictions imposed by the General Assembly.”
Picerno and Commissioner Jim Von Canon voted against sending the letter opposing House Bill 765.
“They snuck in a bill at the end of the Helene Act,” Von Canon said about wanting to know the bill’s intent but not being ready to oppose.
In new business, commissioners moved on to partisan voting. To improve voter access to candidate information, the Moore County commissioners passed a resolution to request a state law change to make their elections partisan. The commissioners said partisan races will make elections more transparent.
“I look at the riots in Washington State…and have no problem in asking the General Assembly in making all, all, all elections partisan,” Picerno said about the parties being so different, one believing in God and one not.
~Article and photo by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She is the author of When the Yellow Slugs Sing, Sky’s River Stone, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, Amagi, Amagi Study Guide, and EZ Essay Study Guide for Holocaust: A History.
