Cumberland school leaders talk finances with state lawmakers

Superintendent Frank Till said his top priority for the 2015-2016 school year is to get a pay raise for teachers and that he is hopeful lawmakers will change the state lottery funding formula to put more money back into building projects.

Cumberland County wants to build and operate a high school on Fort Bragg. Currently the district operates two elementary schools on land that the post owns.

Till says the school system has been working on getting a high school built on post, but the process requires congressional approval.

There's no word on when a high school would open on post.

School board member Greg West also told state leaders Monday that he is concerned that county growth is flat – something he attributes to a lack of good-paying jobs enticing people to move to the area.

"The ones that are here have to be here because Fort Bragg brought them here," he said. "But people aren't choosing to come on their own. If they are, they're moving from a more rural county to here, and that's probably putting a greater demand on our services."

State representatives say it is always about the money and how to juggle it to make things happen.

"How do you fund what you're doing? How to continue funding," Rep. John Szoka, R-Cumberland, said. "If you have to cut funding, how do you deal with that?"

Szoka said he will take what he heard Monday back to his colleagues in Raleigh.