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What lies ahead
for de la Howe?
March 13, 2004
By
WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer
A proposal by the governor to eliminate funding for a McCormick County children’s home may not result in the institution’s closure, but will certainly mean radical changes in its operation, according to one state representative.
Founded in 1797, the John de la Howe School has been a state-supported residential group child-care agency since 1918.
The agency serves dozens of school-aged children every year who come from backgrounds such as abuse, neglect and family crisis.
In this year’s state budget, Gov. Mark Sanford proposed closing the school as a means to save the state $3.3 million. This proposal was not been entirely embraced by the House, which countered by offering $830,000 in funding for the school, said State Rep. Anne Parks, D-Greenwood.
Parks said the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice would take control of the facility’s management, and bring in cooperative agencies that would maintain the school’s services.
This week, Parks proposed adding an additional $700,000 to the school’s budget by diverting funding for a proposed football bowl game at The Citadel.
Her proposal was tabled, though.
“We may try to recall it when we go back through the (budget) section,” Parks said, “and get someone on the prevailing side to recall an amendment that would restore it. Every intense effort will be made for it not to close.”
John de la Howe School served 123 children last year, but the cost per student varies from source to source. The school estimates a per-student cost of $46,000, but the state’s House Ways and Means Committee estimated a much higher cost of $70,000.
McCormick County Council and the school’s board of directors recently met with a representative from the Governor’s Office, where this discrepancy was discussed.
“It was evident after about an hour’s discussion that the Governor’s Office and legislature had been operating with the wrong information,” said McCormick County Administrator Dale Surrett.
“The most telling part of that discussion is that they want to make it into a DJJ facility, and as of this week they had no idea what that was going to cost.”
The governor’s budget reserves $12,000 for each child currently enrolled at John de la Howe to assist in the cost of moving them to another facility.
Surrett said the school is the third largest employer in the county, with 135 total job slots available. Because of recent budget cuts, though, only 99 of those positions are currently filled.
Losing these jobs, he said, would be the equivalent of counties like Charleston or Richland losing between 4,000 and 6,000 jobs.
The school also spends about $800,000 a year on goods and services in the county, he said.
Parks said a cooperative effort between the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health and Human Services and DJJ could keep the school open next year and reduce per-student costs.
The school is not expected to maintain its current staff levels, she said.
Wallace McBride covers Greenwood and general assignments in the Lakelands. He can be reached at 223-1812, or: wmcbride@indexjournal.com
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