Martinsville Board Splits 4-3 on Sept. 24 Budget Hearing Date

Martinsville Board of Education | July 23, 2026

Article Summary: The Martinsville Community Unit School District C-3 Board of Education voted 4-3 on July 23, 2026, to set its FY27 budget hearing for Sept. 24, 2026 — the only divided vote of the meeting. Three members voted against the date, and the minutes record no explanation.

FY27 Budget Hearing Key Points:

The hearing date was set for Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026.

The motion carried 4-3, with Kannmacher, Maxwell and Wilhoit voting no.

It was the only item at the July meeting on which any member voted against.

The minutes record no discussion and no stated reason for the dissenting votes.

MARTINSVILLE — The Martinsville Community Unit School District C-3 Board of Education on Thursday, July 23, 2026, voted 4-3 to set its FY27 budget hearing for Sept. 24, 2026, the single divided vote at a meeting that otherwise produced unanimous approvals and abstentions.

The motion was made by Hollingsworth and seconded by board President Connelly. Baird, Connelly, Hollingsworth and Parcel voted yes. Kannmacher, Maxwell and Wilhoit voted no. The minutes record the result as “motion carried.”

The agenda listed the item as a recommendation for the board to consider — “Consider the recommendation to set the FY27 Budget hearing for September 24, 2026” — but does not identify who made the recommendation. The minutes do not record any discussion of the date, any alternative date proposed, or any reason offered by the three members who opposed it.

A budget hearing is generally the public step at which a school district’s proposed spending plan for the coming fiscal year is presented for community comment before the board votes to adopt it. The record of this meeting contains no figures from the FY27 budget, no description of its contents and no indication of when a tentative budget will be placed on display.

A Meeting Otherwise Without Dissent

The split stands out against the rest of the July agenda. Every other action item at the meeting — a consent agenda, the appointment of an infrastructure program manager, two facility and community recreation approvals, a $500 payment, salary schedule credit movement, a grant of hiring authority to the superintendent, eight personnel votes, a labor memorandum, bus driver pay rates, entry into and exit from closed session, and adjournment — carried either unanimously or with a single abstention and no opposing votes.

In separate action under the consent agenda, the board approved an item authorizing the district to expend funds to cover the costs of salaries, materials and supplies for the 2026-2027 school year. That item passed unanimously as part of the consent package, with no figure attached in either the agenda or the minutes.

Readers looking for the substance behind the 4-3 vote will not find it in the public record of this meeting. The district publishes minutes and an agenda; it did not release a board packet, and no transcript or audio recording of the July 23 session was available. Obtaining the superintendent’s budget hearing recommendation and the tentative FY27 budget calendar would establish what the three dissenting members were voting against.