Safety, Educator Pay and Student Support Top GCS Agenda for Lawmakers  Board of Education Approves 2026 Legislative Priorities  

Guilford County, N.C. - The Guilford County Board of Education is calling on state lawmakers to strengthen school safety, support educators, expand student opportunities and address whole-child needs across the district.  

The Board approved its 2026 legislative priorities at Tuesday night’s meeting, reflecting the district’s commitment to transforming learning and life outcomes for every student.  

The most urgent legislative needs include:  

• School Safety: $3.5 million for critical safety infrastructure and staffing, including additional classified staff to assist with campus security measures. 

• Educator Pay: Substantially increase state-funded base pay for teachers to reach the national average and invest in higher wages for classified staff including teacher assistants, custodians, bus drivers, and other frontline workers. 

• Exceptional Children Support: Increase the 13% enrollment cap on state funding for students with disabilities to 16% and transition to a weighted student funding formula that accounts for severity of needs. 

• Calendar Alignment: Allow local school boards to align high school and community college schedules, support dual-enrollment students, address weather disruptions, and align semesters with winter break. 

• Postsecondary Planning: Increase school counselor allocations to meet the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended ratio of 1:250 (currently 1:299) to support students with career and postsecondary planning. 

Additional priorities include providing meals for all students, support for school-based telehealth, high-dosage tutoring, a new school accountability model, technology access, clean energy infrastructure and performance standards for voucher-funded schools. 

The public is invited to review the full legislative priorities and learn more about how to get involved by visiting www.gcsnc.com/advocate. The Board’s Legislative Committee plans to share the district’s priorities with Guilford County on April 15, 2026, during Legislators in our Schools Day.