A full day of mediation has ended in a deadlock between Alamance County’s leaders and the local school board over the county’s financial commitment to the Alamance-Burlington school system.
The county’s board of commissioners and the Alamance-Burlington school board conducted these arm’s length negotiations for 7½ hours on Monday under a statutory provision that allows local school systems to demand mediation in financial disputes with their county-level benefactors. The school board had availed itself of this statutory option less than 24 hours after the commissioners adopted a new county budget on June 15 that the school system’s leaders believed had short changed them by roughly $14 million.
After more than 7½ hours of talks, former judge Greg McGuire, a professional mediator who oversaw the proceedings, admitted that the two sides were at an impasse over the county’s contribution to the school system’s day-to-day operations. He insisted, however, that further discussions could lead to a consensus over the county’s capital outlays for area schools.
McGuire was a fair bit more optimistic when the two groups kicked off the mediation process with a joint gathering in the main courtroom of Alamance County’s Historic Court House at 9:30 a.m..
“It is my role solely to try to facilitate a compromise between the parties.” he announced before the two boards retired to their respective conference rooms. “Maybe the best indication that we have reached a good result is if each side is a little unhappy about where we end up at the end of the day.”
The schools and the county had found themselves at a very similar impasse a year ago when the school board made its first use of the aforementioned statutory mechanism to bring the commissioners to the negotiating table. In that case, the mediation process proved relatively short-lived after the county’s representatives showed up with an initial offer that added $4 million to the school system’s day-to-day operations.
[Story continues below photos from the joint meeting.]
From the very get-go, Monday’s mediation seemed destined to be neither as quick nor as painless as the proceedings in 2025. One conspicuous difference was McGuire’s presence at that morning’s gathering.
A former superior court judge, McGuire had also been retained to settle the tiff in 2025, although it was clear by the time the two boards met at the courthouse that his services wouldn’t be needed. This year, McGuire got the memo that his presence would, in fact, be required when the two boards convened.
Shortly before Monday’s preliminary meeting, McGuire told The Alamance News that the forthcoming proceedings would be the first time he’s actually been asked to mediate a financial dispute between a school system and the county it serves.
“I have not done this before,” he conceded, “and in it is my understanding from the attorneys that it’s pretty rare.”
At the center of this year’s dispute is a new county budget that the commissioners adopted by a margin of 4-to-1on the evening of June 15.
[Story continues below chart showing ABSS requests and county’s allocations.]
This spending plan, which was calibrated to avoid a property tax hike, earmarks nearly $64.4 million for the school system’s day-to-day operations ($58.8 million for operations) as well as the maintenance and upkeep of its facilities. The new budget also earmarks $9.4 million for school-related capital projects, including $1.4 million for various technological upgrades, for a total of $72.9 million.
The school board, for its part, had asked the county for $62.8 million to fund the school system’s operations as well as another $25.3 million for its capital needs. These figures don’t correspond exactly to those that appear in the county’s new budget. Even so, according to the school system’s calculations, the new budget sets aside $72,983,876 to fund school-related outlays for which the school board had sought $87,277,731.
In their budgetary rows with the schools, the county’s representatives have consistently emphasized their duty to balance the school system’s needs with other financial priorities.
Kelly Allen, the chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners, pressed this point home when she had an opportunity to speak at the beginning of Monday’s proceedings.
“The county remains committed to responsible stewardship of public funds,” she declared, “and we look forward to a professional exchange based on the facts, the law, and the needs of the local community.”
In the meantime, the school system’s delegates have reiterated their desire to obtain “full funding” of their budget requests from the county’s governing board.
As a prelude to Monday’s mediation session, Dr. Aaron Fleming, the superintendent of the Alamance-Burlington school system, told the two boards that he hopes they can increase this sum to meet the school system’s financial needs.
“We are here in the spirit of partnership to find a compromise on funding our schools,” he asserted, “and to move Alamance County forward, we have to look closely at where we stand.”
Fleming went on to observe that ABSS is “lagging behind” much of the state in the size of its local teacher supplement and he alluded to the trouble that the school system has had filling its non-faculty school-level posts. He also bemoaned the inadequacy of the revenue he’ll need to build on what he considers to be recent improvements that he said have made the past two semesters “a banner year” in academic performance for ABSS.
“To sustain this momentum and truly thrive, we need to bridge our resource gap,” the superintendent added “With the right investment we won’t just improve but provide the best opportunities for our students and create a school system where the top educators in the state want to work.”
In the case of the school system’s day-to-day operations, the county’s new budget sets aside a total of $58.8 million – or roughly $1.5 million more than the commissioners had proffered a year ago to avoid mediation. County manager Heidi York had repeatedly reassured the commissioners that this sum would be proof against legal challenge since it had followed the same formula that produced the school system’s adjusted operational allowance in 2025.
On Monday, Tony Messer, the school system’s finance director, told the two groups that the approved allocation is still insufficient to allow the local teacher supplement to be increased in step with anticipated state-level raises. He also bemoaned the lack of revenue to increase the wages of special education teachers and non-facility employees such as bus drivers.
In the meantime, the county’s capital outlay left even more to be desired for Greg Hook, the school system’s chief operating officer. Hook said that the approved allocation lacks the revenue he needs to repair the athletic track at Graham High School, overhaul two high school tennis courts, paint hallways, construct security vestibules at several schools, and repave a number of school parking lots.
After about 15 minutes of introductory remarks, the two groups approved separate motions to go into closed session. The commissioners then slipped into the jury room, while the school board retired into another part of the courthouse, leaving McGuire to shuttle back and forth between the two groups.
After more than seven hours of this shuttle diplomacy, McGuire acknowledged his clients were more or less where they had started.
“It is my determination that the parties are at an impasse on the issue of current expenditure [for operations,” he announced. “On the issue of capital expenditures, that remains one where the two parties wish to [continue]. So, I am leaving the mediation open with regard to the issue of the capital expenditures.”
While both sides agreed to continue joint discussions between the two boards in the mediation process on the capital side of the budget, no agreement was reached on when such discussions would resume, although both sides confirmed it would not be on Tuesday.
The statutory deadline for concluding the mediation is August 1, although both sides may agree to extend it. The fiscal year begins July 1.
Meanwhile, school board chairman Sandy Ellington-Graves confirmed for the newspaper late Wednesday afternoon that school officials have not yet set a date to resume mediation.
Asked what the next step might be should the boards fail to reach an agreement or extend the deadline to conclude mediation, Ellington-Graves said, “After that, I don’t what action the [school] board would take, if any.” She also noted that the school board isn’t currently scheduled to meet again until July 21, for the sole purpose of entering into closed session to consider personnel recommendations for the upcoming 2026-27 school year.
See related story: commissioners willing to resume, but nothing scheduled yet: https://alamancenews.com/commissioners-say-theyre-ready-to-resume-discussions-on-capital-with-abss-but-no-meeting-planned-yet/
