The board, presenting no discussion on the measure, voted unanimously to take a stand against the ``Put Parents In Charge Act`` being debated on the floors of the S.C. House and Senate.

The board decision came after Greta McAvoy, representing the Kershaw County Teacher Forum, spoke out against the proposed legislation on behalf of the group during the public comment section of the meeting.

``As educators we have recently survived a number of lean years of state funding,`` she said. ``We realize that there are some excellent private schools and some excellent home school situations available to some students in our country and state. While we certainly respect parents who choose these options for their children, we do not believe that public funds should be used to provide these options.``

McAvoy said public education is already hampered by a lack of funding.

``Our schools are still not even receiving the funding from the state that we are promised by state law,`` she said. ``Any legislation that will further erode public school funding is definitely a step back for our state and for our children. While we could take up more time and discuss a number of specific reasons to oppose this legislation, in our `book,` the issue basically comes down to this point: The very heart of our American democracy is our public school system. We need to spend our time and our money in a public system which has accountability and equal opportunity for all students. We urge you to send our legislators the clear message that the Kershaw County School Board supports our public schools.``

The Put Parents in Charge Act was one of the topics discussed at the forum`s annual ``Cornbread and Issues`` dinner, an event in which many of the county`s educators meet with members of the area`s legislative delegation in an informal setting to talk about topics that are relevant to the field of education and children.

School Trustee Sherri Brosius attended the teacher forum and suggested the board consider adopting a resolution in opposition of the legislation, drafted specifically for Kershaw County.

The resolution, approved by the local board Tuesday night, said in part, ``Due to economic factors beyond the control of the state government, educational funding has been significantly reduced over the past four years. The state government itself has recognized that public education has not been fully funded to the levels deemed necessary to provide quality education for the children of this state.

The document, drafted by School Board Chairman Dana Morris, continues: ``The Board of Trustees of the Kershaw County School District have carefully reviewed the proposal... and have heard from proponents from both sides of the issue and it does appear that if this act is implemented there will be a reduction in public school funding.

``The Board of Trustees respects the rights of parents to educate their children in any way they see fit, but the board also has the responsibility to advocate for the 10,000 public school students who attend our schools.``

For the past several months, the board has been grappling with whether or not to vote for a proposed resolution that had been prepared by the South Carolina School Boards Association that would show its opposition to the legislation that has been championed by Gov. Mark Sanford.

In December, the board decided to take no action on the state association`s resolution.

During its ongoing discussion of Put Parents In Charge, the board has heard from both sides of the issue.

Several local proponents of the bill and a representative from the Governor`s Office have spoken to the board at previous meetings, stating the proposed legislation would allow parents to be active participants in the education of their children by giving them choices outside mainstream public institutions. One of the major premises of their arguments is that parents, including those in middle and lower income brackets, should be able to select their method of education and receive a portion of the money the state would normally contribute to the public education system to apply to private or home schooling costs.

The proponents of the proposed tax credit legislation said the bill would not adversely affect funding to local districts.

At another meeting, a representative from the state school boards association, which has promoted a similar resolution to every school district in the state, said that Put Parents In Charge would take much-needed money away from public education at time when the system is underfunded. The group has also expressed concern about accountability and access of private and home schooling to the majority of the state`s children.

Until Tuesday night`s meeting, no one from the public had approached the board in opposition of the Put Parents In Charge Act.

In other business:

* The board praised the district`s chief financial officer, Donnie Wilson, for a successful attempt to refinance the district`s debt service bonds that will save the district more than $1.05 million through the life of the debt. The district refinanced the bonds through J.P. Morgan Securities, one of nine financial institutions which submitted bids on the bond resale, on Jan. 20.

The savings will be seen as a result of the reduction of the interest rate the district must pay on around $33 million borrowed in 1997 and 2000 to pay for upgrades and additions to its facility program. The district had been paying an interest rate of around 5.32 percent.

Wilson said the savings will cover a deficit in the amount of money the district expected to gain from local property taxes to repay the outstanding loan. The financial officer said authorities overestimated the value of future tax income when it approved the initial bond sale. He said the district had been considering requesting the county increase in millage rates to cover the shortfall.

The district has been looking at refinancing the bonds since last February, when interest rates in the market dipped. At that time, the district projected it could save around $400,000 in interest payments. Changes in the market made the deal unfavorable. The board had given Wilson and Superintendent Dr. Herbert Berg the green light to refinance the bonds, if interest rates dipped again.

* Bids on four projects were approved by the board.

Re-roofing work at Lugoff Elementary, Lugoff-Elgin High and Wateree Elementary was awarded to Aquaseal Manufacturing and Roofing Inc. for around $314,335.

The board also approved, upon approval of its attorney and funding by a federal program, two communications projects. The board awarded E-Chalk with a tentative contract to supply a districtwide communications system for around $99,400.

The program would allow teachers and schools to more easily and uniformly post classroom Web sites, e-mail functions and instructional material via the Internet without clogging the district`s server.

The board also tentatively approved a contract with BellSouth to provide a more technological efficient telephone networking system in at least four to 13 schools and possibly upgrading the network of all 20 district facilities for a cost of around $944,222.

Assistant Superintendent for Operations Billy Smith told the board district administration began looking at its telephone and public announcement systems after lightening from Septembers tornados knocked out the ``obsolete`` systems at several area schools. A district facility consultant reported at least four schools had severe problems with direct communications.

Smith suggested the board look at standardizing and upgrading its telephone systems, especially given the recent push in the area of technology.

The systems upgrades could include using fiber optics in lieu of overground telephone lines and other improvements. He said the upgrades would save the district money in the long run, especially in the areas of operations and long-distance fees, and aid in effective communications efforts.

Smith said the district could use E-RATE Funds, a federal program designed to give school districts a discount when purchasing and using communications/ technological systems such as the one recommended in Tuesday night`s meeting. He said the program targets schools with high percentages of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch programs. Around 13 of Kershaw County`s public schools qualify to receive E-RATE funds.

However, administrators said the district must first apply for the funds by a Feb. 18 deadline.

The board gave its approval for the administration to move forward on application for the federal discounts, with the condition that contracts and subsequent work on the web-based communications system and the telephone/ public announcement system be re-evaluated if the district is not selected to receive the federal communications incentives.

The board also approved the purchase of 51 on-bus cameras at around $575 per unit.

Smith said that the contract will cover the buses that do not have cameras and those that do not work on the district`s transportation fleet that includes 93 buses.

``This is a serious safety issue for not only the students and drivers, but for the district,`` the administrator said. ``It (buying the cameras) is an absolute must. The cameras help the administrators aid drivers in discipline and other matters.``

* The board heard an update on teacher and support staff certification in regard to the federal mandate ``No Child Left Behind`` from interim Director of Human Resources Rose Sheheen.

Sheheen said that by the end of school year 2005-2006, every instructor in the district must be certified to teach in their area of expertise. She said the educators in elementary, middle and high schools must be deemed ``highly qualified,`` through various testing and standards, if they instruct students in the classroom directly.

For example, if an educator teaches and is considered highly qualified in sixth-grade science, he will not be able to teach seventh-grade social studies unless he gains an endorsement of his knowledge and experience in that area through a special evaluation process.

Sheheen said she is especially concerned with the middle school classification. She said principals on the middle school level often draft elementary and high school teachers to fill positions. She said that although the teachers may be qualified to teach in the other grade levels, they must obtain a highly qualified rating to be allowed to teach on the middle school level after this year.

Overall, she told the board, the district is in good position to meet the federal qualifying standards.

Sheheen said 485 teachers of 685 required to be highly qualified have made the grade as of the 2004-2005 school year. Around 14 percent of the district`s affected instructors will have to gain certification by the end of next year.

The interim personnel director reported the district and individual sectors of the teacher/administration staff have established support groups, tutorial sessions and mini-courses to help the teachers prepare for the examinations that lead to certification under No Child Left Behind.

* A 30-minute executive session was held to discuss personnel and legal matters.

The district will be searching for administrators to fill the following administrative vacancies: Principals at Pine Tree Hill and Lugoff elementaries and Lugoff-Elgin Middle and the assistant superintendent for personnel.

The next meeting of the Kershaw County School Board is a work session slated for 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at the District Office.