By Miles Layton

GATESVILLE — A joint meeting between the Gates County Board of Commissioners and the Gates County Board of Education deteriorated into sharp confrontations Wednesday night, as commissioners pressed Superintendent Barry Williams and Board of Education Chair Leslie Byrum for cost-savings data and reduction-in-force numbers tied to the planned closure of Buckland Elementary — and got few answers.

The meeting, held April 29 in the Gates County Courthouse, was called to present the school system’s planning budget resolution for fiscal year 2026-2027, totaling approximately $21.85 million. But what was billed as a budget discussion quickly became a tense standoff over transparency, timelines, and accountability, with at least one commissioner calling for Williams’ resignation before the night was over.

Definitely not boring — this was an action-packed beatdown meeting, particularly the grilling of Superintendent Williams — who sat there calmly taking the heat. Since the meeting lasted about 3 hours, there will be a second story to follow with more budget numbers and Williams’ presentation. And I’ll say that things got so tense that there was a 5-minute recess to let things cool down. Worth noting, the Board of Education met for 14 hours on Monday to discuss the budget — 14 hours has got to be some kind of record.
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Budget Presentation
Williams opened with a methodical walk-through of the district’s financial framework, distinguishing between a planning resolution — which he described as establishing policy direction — and a legally binding budget resolution under state law.
The district’s local budget request for 2026-27 totals $3.198 million, with maintenance consuming the largest share at 41 percent. Williams cited aging infrastructure and rising utility costs as key drivers. The state allocation is projected at approximately $14.89 million, with federal funds adding around $930,000. An additional $360,000 in supplemental requests covers child nutrition, technology, and exceptional children’s services.
Williams also disclosed one-time consolidation costs totaling $325,600, the largest share being $200,000 for parking and freezer infrastructure at the receiving school following the closure of Buckland Elementary. He acknowledged that the full financial impact of consolidation would take two to three years to materialize.
“Our budget request is not just a financial document,” Williams said. “It’s an investment in our children of Gates County and in the future of this community.”

Commissioners Push Back on Savings and RIF
The mood shifted when Commissioner Nathan Berryman asked Williams to explain what cost savings the district had built into the new budget as a result of closing a school — given that the current local request of $3.198 million is up from $2.9 million last year.
“Last year we funded $2.9 million. This year we’re at $3.1. We’re closing a school,” Berryman said. “What are we doing as far as the additional costs and savings that will be realized? Are we budgeting with some of those additional savings that’s going to be realized this year?”
Williams deferred to CFO Steven Harrell. Berryman pressed again.
“Honestly, you being the leader of the school system — you would know your budget. Do you not know what cost savings measures you’re pulling from last year’s budget to this?”
“I would like to have my CFO answer,” Williams replied.
Berryman wasn’t satisfied. “I’m asking you to tell me and this board what is the cost savings that you’re pulling as a relation from last year’s budget to this.”
Williams said the district was still evaluating potential reductions in force and had not yet finalized numbers, explaining that a RIF requires a formal Board of Education vote on criteria, including years of service and licensure status, before he could act.
“We’re still having conversations,” Williams said.
“So how are you presenting us a budget at this point in time if you still haven’t had those conversations?” Berryman responded. “You do not have a general idea about what you are planning to do?”
“Not at this time,” Williams said, “because we still have to have conversations with the Board of Education.”
“So then why are we having this meeting?” Berryman asked.
“Well, you called this meeting,” Williams replied.
Commission Chair Emily Truman followed up, noting that the Board of Education had voted earlier this year on a RIF and asking why those savings weren’t reflected in the budget presentation.
“Wasn’t there a RIF that was voted on by this board that was going to happen prior to even the decision of the school that was going to be closed?” Truman asked. “Shouldn’t those numbers be included in this? I don’t see that it’s reflected. If there is a reason that the RIF that was voted on by the Board of Education earlier this year is not happening, why is that not happening?”
Commissioners Call for Closure Impact Report — and Superintendent’s Resignation
Commissioner Dave Forsythe raised a separate but related concern: the district’s own school closing procedures require a summary report documenting projected savings in personnel, utilities, custodial costs, transportation, repairs, and insurance once a school is closed. He said that report had not been produced and that he couldn’t evaluate a budget without it.
Byrum argued the report didn’t have to be generated until the school officially closes — Buckland’s last day of classes has not yet occurred.
Forsythe rejected that reasoning. “That report should have been generated already. I mean, I’d like to see that. I think that’s part of this. It’s a requirement of the school closing procedures.”
He continued: “That’s why I was getting into this to start with — that summary evaluation should have been done. I feel like we’re getting bum rushed, as they call it. I feel like this is stuff that should have been done. We should be here right now, ‘X number of positions are going to be saved.’ Let’s face it: if you have five schools, you reduce to four, that’s a twenty percent reduction in facilities and potentially staff.”
Forsythe laid out what he expected the report to contain. “I am very interested in understanding — here is how much our electric bills are, and we’re not powering up that building. All that kind of stuff has to be part of that discussion, because quite frankly, those are where the savings are going to be.”
He said he had also looked into whether the district had submitted an updated facilities needs assessment to the state — a five-year plan, he said, appeared to be overdue — and found no indication one had been filed.
Then Forsythe turned directly toward the Board of Education and called for Williams’ removal. His remarks were pointed and unambiguous: the superintendent’s inability to provide basic cost-savings projections tied to a school closure that had been in the works for months was, in Forsythe’s view, disqualifying.
“I don’t think it’s a stretch for us to ask for work that should be normal due diligence,” Forsythe said. “If your superintendent’s telling you that you’ve got to vote to tell him to do this report, he needs to go. And I’d ask for that tonight.”
He pressed further: “He needs to go if he literally has to have you vote and tell him to fill out and give you the expected cost savings for closing schools. That is ludicrous. That is beyond any logic or concern anybody can have. That’s a standard thing.”
Forsythe noted the county had approved $50,000 for a facilities study whose results he said he had never personally seen, and argued that the school system had known for the better part of a year that Buckland would close. Withholding the closure impact report under those circumstances, he said, was not a procedural technicality — it was a failure of basic administrative responsibility.
“You also supposedly know your code, you know your instructions. It clearly says this is a requirement,” Forsythe said. “Y’all voted to close the school two months ago. That was when you voted — before then, you knew you were going to close the school. Last year, we authorized fifty thousand dollars for y’all to do a study. You’ve known you were going to close a school since that study was done, which I’ve never seen but I’ve heard the results of. That’s been known for all time. So not doing this evaluation — the most basic part of this closure that we’ve known about for six months or more — and being told that I have to have you vote to tell him to do that: y’all got your eyes closed if you’re accepting that as an adequate explanation.”
Byrum objected: “If we’re here to attack someone personally—”
“Well, no, you’re sitting there telling us everything’s okay,” Forsythe replied. “That is between us and our board.”
“Is that your recipe on how to make sausage?” Byrum asked.
“Yeah, it actually is,” Forsythe said.
Williams did not directly respond to the calls for his resignation during the meeting.

The Question of Timing
The confrontation extended into a pointed exchange between Truman and Byrum over how much notice the school system had received of the commission’s desire to move the budget timeline earlier than usual.
Byrum challenged the premise directly, asking Truman how far in advance commissioners had decided to push up the budget presentation schedule and whether that information had been formally communicated to the school system. “Was it sent like in an official notification for us?” Byrum asked.
Truman said the expectation of an earlier timeline had been established at a joint meeting the previous year and that written notice had followed months ago. “We said during our budget meetings last year, when we met last year, that we would be going earlier this year — that we wanted to have an approved budget in May,” Truman said. “We started that language last year, so it’s been pretty common knowledge since then. I know it was sent at least a couple of months ago.”
Byrum was not satisfied. “We’re on this side of the board. You are on that side of the board, and we over here on this side are making a whole lot more decisions. We have three hundred and fifty employees. How many do you have?”
“We have a lot of work that has to be done. I understand that,” Truman replied.
She then cited state law which she said gives commissioners the authority to allocate appropriations by purpose, function, or project, and said that authority had become necessary given a pattern of financial concerns stretching back to 2023. “We’ve had repeatedly had the Board of Education come to us with various financial concerns, starting with that money that we had to get out of the capital outlay in 2023, and the most recent with the daycare, which was incredibly concerning with how it came about and was presented,” Truman said. “So we are asking questions that we need answered. We owe our constituents due diligence in this as well.”
Byrum pushed back, suggesting that January meetings between the chairs and county manager had gone nowhere. “Really, our meeting that we had in January — between you, Madam Chair, and you, Vice Chair, and me, and the county manager — those were wasted meetings?”
Truman didn’t yield. “We should have that information. But it’s not being requested by you, and they’re not being held accountable for that. We have to have this information to move forward to do our part. So we’re asking for accountability and justification for these requests.”
Byrum pressed further, asking Truman whether she could answer complex budget questions on short notice if their roles were reversed. “If you were asked to close the school — could you be able to answer those questions in the timely manner you’re given?”
“I would be spending hours every day to learn this information so I could get there,” Truman said. “Because it’s important. Especially if it’s my job.”

Public Records and a Recess
Truman had earlier flagged that budget questions submitted in writing under state law more than a week prior had gone unanswered. Byrum said he had sent an email acknowledging five public records requests and committed to responding by May 1.
“My question is, we’re talking about a year and a half — not just this,” Truman said. “We have been asking certified questions, teacher questions have been coming up since at least last budget season. We have been asking these questions in writing and in joint meetings. None of this is new information. The only thing new is going through and saying, ‘Can you tell us what this is?’ for staff supplements. The other questions that we’ve asked are things that we have presented previously.”
Berryman then pressed Williams on a specific $233,000 line item, declining to redirect the question to staff. “I’m not asking your staff. I’m asking you. If you can’t answer this, then why is it that you’re the superintendent of this school system?”
Williams responded sharply: “I pray you need to pause right here. If you’ve got questions, send your comments and writings to my Board of Education. We’ll get those questions answered for you immediately.”
“We did that last week,” Berryman said. “We’ve been doing this for about a year and a half.”
Shortly after, Byrum called for a recess. The motion carried, and both boards broke.

Budget Timeline
Truman told the boards that the county hopes to adopt a complete budget in May, both to provide clarity to school staff well before a July 1 fiscal year start and to meet what she described as an expectation set at last year’s joint meeting. She said the school system has until May 15 to submit its final budget under state statute, and that she expected further work sessions — possibly joint ones — before adoption.
The school system’s planning budget resolution, as amended and approved by the Board of Education earlier in the meeting, totals $21,853,742.07.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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