islandpacket.com - The Island Packet Online

Search Everything in the Lowcountry and the Coastal Empire.

Effort to return state funds to schools dies in Senate

Add Comment

A last-minute effort from two local senators to secure state money for the Beaufort County School District failed on the Senate floor Wednesday night, driving another stake into the county's hopes to restore declining state support.

Sens. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, and Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, proposed giving $7.7 million from a forthcoming state surplus to the school district to make up for a projected $15 million loss in state Education Finance Act money.

Richardson's budget amendment was one of a flurry of last-minute requests from senators throughout the state just before the Senate approved a $6.5 billion budget late Wednesday night. The amendment would have taken the money from spring tax revenues projected by the state's Board of Economic Advisors, but he said too many senators philosophically disagreed with earmarking money that might not exist for local projects.

"They don't want to vote for wish-list money," he said. "At the end of the day, the poor counties don't want to give anything to the wealthy counties."

But Richardson said Thursday there was "good news." He said he only asked for $7.7 million because the state had reduced the amount of Education Finance Act money it was cutting from the school district.

However, several Beaufort County Board of Education members said they were unaware of any state change and still think the school district is losing roughly $15 million in fiscal year 2007, which starts July 1.

School board Chairwoman Dale Friedman, who represents Beaufort; Vice Chairman Richard Tritschler, who represents Lady's Island; and Stu Rodman, who represents Hilton Head Island; said they had not heard of any change to Education Finance Act money allocation.

The Education Finance Act formula uses property values and student demographics to determine how some of the money from the state's general-revenue fund is divided among South Carolina's 85 school districts.

School district chief financial officer Phyllis White, Superintendent Edna Crews and officials at the State Department of Education could not be reached for comment.

The budget now returns to the House of Representatives, where Richardson said he thinks Beaufort County's House members might be able to reach into surplus funds to find the money.

"We want to keep the subject open," he said. "We could sort of get into retribution mode and start whackin' things that other people want (from the budget) because we didn't get ours, but that's not a mature way to play."

Richardson's amendment was tabled in a 27-13 vote. All of Charleston County's senators except Republican George Campsen voted in favor of the amendment.

Members of both the Beaufort and Charleston legislative delegations -- districts the Education Finance Act formula penalizes for having high property values -- had banded together to try to restore their funding several months ago.

Contact Jonathan Cribbs at 986-5517 or . To comment on this story, please go to beaufortgazette.com.