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INSIDE ▼ Data centers come under scrutiny
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PAGE 2A Friday, May 1, 2026 • Vol. 26 • No. 17
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UCPS copes with budget challenges by Justin Vick justin@charlottemediagroup.org
MONROE – Union County Public Schools is seeking a $174,258,414 appropriation from the county to support its 2027 fiscal year budget. This would represent an increase of $8,398,999 to local funding. Chief Finance Officer Shanna McLamb explained to the Union
County Board of Education on April 14 how UCPS has limited information from the state. Without a state budget, the district has had to adjust by making assumptions about topics like anticipated state salary increases, health insurance costs and retirement rates. “We are requesting funding from the county based on assumptions from the state level of what the need might be,”
McLamb said. “But until some of these numbers start shoring up – and we’ll continue to refine the numbers – there could be some changes.” McLamb estimated that UCPS could lose $10.1 million in state funding. The biggest drivers are a decrease in enrollment and the loss of supplemental funds for teacher compensation due to county wealth. Enrollment is measured by
average daily membership. UCPS tallied an ADM of 41,423 students in 2024, the highest total since 2017. ADM fell to 40,929 in 2025 and 39,880 in 2026. “We have to right-size for the coming year,” McLamb said. “With our enrollment dropping, we have got to make staffinglevel adjustments for the coming school year, knowing that we will not have the same level of student enrollment.”
McLamb also shared a concern that UCPS won’t qualify for annual supplemental funds from the state for certified teachers and instructional staff because Union County’s adjusted taxable real property is above $50.9 billion. If the state doesn’t adjust the threshold to qualify, UCPS is left with two options. The district will have to secure more funding from the county or redirect funding from elsewhere in the budget.
NC budget passes on unknowns to school district
WHAT'S INSIDE:
Trimming costs
by Andrew Houlihan Superintendent
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Tax reform Leaders go off on Raleigh & revals, 3B
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Sarah Klapprodt, public art chair, showed these images April 14 in a presentation to commissioners. Bernardo Benelli’s artwork will go on the crosswalks. Photos courtesy of the Town of Waxhaw
Crosswalks to display art by Justin Vick justin@charlottemediagroup.org
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WAXHAW – The Town of Waxhaw will be installing Bernardo Benelli’s artwork this summer in a hightraffic area, so to speak, at the entrance of Kensington Elementary School. Bernardo’s design will be painted on two crosswalks at the intersection of H.C. Nesbit Park Road and Bridgewick Road. “This intersection receives a lot of pedestrian traffic from kids and families walking to school and people walking to the H.C. Nesbit Park,” according to Sarah Klapprodt, chair of the Waxhaw Public Art
Committee. “The public art committee wanted to add some public art to this intersection while also drawing attention to the crossing areas for the pedestrians.” The Waxhaw Public Art Committee held a contest for Kensington Elementary students in third, fourth and fifth grades to design artwork that could go on the crosswalks. They could work within a theme of nature, sports or school pride but they couldn’t use words, 3D images or traffic-related colors. “We’re excited to have this partnership with Kensington Elementary and to have the opportunity to showcase our talented student artists here in
Waxhaw,” Klapprodt said. The Waxhaw Public Art Committee considered more than 30 student submissions, selecting Bernardo's schooland sports-infused design. Klapprodt said the project will take about a week to complete. It will be a community build project over the summer. Bernardo, a fourth-grader, was recognized for his work during the April 14 town board meeting. Assistant Principal Samantha Gabriel was among supporters in attendance. “That was a really great representation of school and fun put together,” Commissioner Susanna Wedra said of the art.
Deputies find gun in high school teacher's vehicle MONROE – A Parkwood High School teacher faces weapons charges after deputies with the Union County Sheriff’s Office found a gun in his vehicle and a knife in his storage closet. Deputies responded to a tip about a strong marijuana odor inside the building before students arrived. They traced the odor to a chemistry classroom assigned to Gerald Wade Morton Jr. A drug recognition expert evaluated Morton, determining that he showed signs of impairment, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies searched the
classroom, finding a black bookbag inside the storage closet. Inside was a sealed amount of hemp within the legal limit, drug paraphernalia, a police badge from another jurisdiction and a small dagger-style knife with a clip that belonged to his son, according to the sheriff’s office. They also searched Morton’s vehicle, finding a loaded 9mm handgun in the center console but no drugs, according to the sheriff’s office. Officials said the vehicle’s window was partially opened and the vehicle had a strong odor of marijuana.
Deputies arrested Morton on charges of possession of a firearm on educational property, possession of a weapon (non-firearm) on educational property and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was issued a $10,000 secured bond and met the conditions of his release. Retired NYPD Officer loves working in Waxhaw WAXHAW – The Town of Waxhaw presented animal control officer Kenneth Wall with a Service Award on April 14 for five years of employment. Police Chief Dexter Wilson
had the honor of presenting him to the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners, noting how Officer Wall arrived to town after retiring from the New York Police Department. “With a total of 36 years of law enforcement experience, I’d say we got a good one,” Wilson said. “Anybody who knows Ken knows that Ken is probably one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.” The town previously recognized Wall in June 2025 after he earned an Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate. Wall kept his remarks short see SAFETY, Page 3A
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thecharlotteweekly.com | WEEKLY
ver the last six months, we have engaged heavily and received considerable feedback from our stakeholders about our budget and our budget priorities for the coming year. I really want to thank members of our teacher advisory, our principal advisory, our parent advisory, our student advisory council, as well as members of the board of education for their feedback. As a reminder, tonight’s (April 14) recommendation is simply that. It’s a recommendation. The board’s action tonight would be to accept the recommendation. Once that occurs, we will be working together between now and the May board meeting to make any edits or modifications. On May 5, the board will vote to approve the budget (the board approved it April 14). Again, as a reminder, with our budgeting process, the approval of that budget in May is simply the approval of a request of allocation funding to be made from the board of county commissioners to the school system. In June, the board of county commissioners will decide how much funding to allocate to Union County Public Schools, which we hope will align to the presentation and to the board’s priorities that you’ll hear tonight. Tonight, you will hear several key themes from Miss McLamb. Number one, this has been a very complex budget recommendation with a lot of moving parts. There are a lot of unknowns, assumptions and projections to tonight’s recommendation, as there are considerable efforts happening at the local and state level to determine what our local and state budgets will look like. Number two, a significant priority for this budget recommendation is investing see UNKNOWNS, Page 3A
Superintendent Andrew Houlihan, seen here addressing students at a reading rally, has made his budget recommendation for the 2026-27 fiscal year despite some unknowns at the state level. Photo courtesy of UCPS