North Carolina has a new budget, signed, sealed, and delivered by the General Assembly and Gov. Josh Stein, finally giving teachers across the state, including Burke, their first raise in nearly three years — albeit a year past the state government’s deadline.
When the Burke County Public Schools district learned early in the 2025-26 school year that they’d be working against a $4.6 million deficit due to declining enrollment, they started planning ahead, making cuts and slimming their spending in every area that they could afford.
The Burke County Board of Education voted Monday to demolish Chesterfield Elementary School rather than risk the vacant building being purchased by a charter school, ending months of debate over the future of the property.
The cost of the new eastern elementary school leapt by more than 20% this past week to approximately $66.7 million, forcing the district to reconsider how it will fund the school that was previously slated for debt-free construction.
With the continued retirement of baby boomers overlapping with the decline in birth rates, the job market is expected to see major shifts in the coming years.
Dr. Bill Daggett, the executive director at Successful Practices Network, worries that the only people filling the spaces are untrained and unprepared for the world they’re entering, but Burke might have a leg up.
The cost of the new eastern elementary school leapt by more than 20% this past week to approximately $66.7 million, forcing the district to reconsider how it will fund the school that was previously slated for debt-free construction.
Although the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed the 2022 decision in the three-decade-old Leandro case against the state on April 2, the effects aren’t expected to reach Burke County.
A $2.5 million grant is giving an HVAC system at Freedom High School a long-overdue facelift, freeing up and redirecting hundreds of thousands in district funds to other projects.
Beneath the tension of the Burke County Board of Education’s Monday meeting, Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan said Hallyburton Academy’s relocatio…
Monday’s Burke County Board of Education meeting began with cheers as students from across the district were recognized for their achievements during January and February.
