Governor's Plan For Smaller School Districts Consolidation Draws Fire

GREENWOOD, S.C. -- It's a move that Gov. Mark Sanford says could save South Carolina more than $25 million a year in administrative costs -- consolidating smaller school districts.

But some officials in one district that would be affected said they're not certain that the numbers add up to improvement.

Under the plan, Greenwood Districts 51 and 52 would consolidate because each has less than 2,500 students.

Sanford spokesman Will Folks said that he isn't certain where the students would go, but that the move is necessary if the state is to spend its money in a better way.

District 51's superintendent said the consolidation would take away from the personal relationships that comes with a small school district and the student-teacher ratio would be greater.

"There was a study commissioned by the General Assembly last year by the Legislative Audit Council. Their findings were that the savings are not what [Sanford] thinks they would be. In fact, in certain consolidated districts like Orangeburg, the pupil cost went up," Fay Sprouse said. "My concerns are that the community will lose part of its identity if we lose our district. There's a sense of personalization when you have your own district."

"If this is going to be done, it needs to be studied carefully on a district by district basis to determine if it would save money," she said.

"The kids, they've all grown up in small schools with 15 to 20 kids in a classroom. For them to be put in a school with 30 to 40 students, that's a drastic change," parent Jessica Brown Ross said.

Ross said she hopes to get 1,000 signatures on a petition to ask Sanford to reconsider his plan.

Currently, 20 school districts in South Carolina have fewer than 2,500 students. Folks said Sanford hopes to complete the consolidation by July 2006.