Voters approved in November 2000 a referendum to build new school and improve old school. A district office complex and a new high school in northern Beaufort County remain as the yet-to-be projects.
A legal battle has surrounded the new high school, and the battle promises to continue for some time into the future. It will be expensive.
Many could give at least two good reasons not to use bond money for legal fees:
Accountability is the main reason the district shouldn't be able to use money from the bond money. Recent news stories disclosed that oversight for the district's legal spending hasn't been thorough or timely. The district already has spent a lot of money for legal fees associated with the new high school.
As has been pointed out here, an exact accounting of legal fees hasn't been determined but data show that between 2000 and 2004, the district spent $282,000 on legal fees regarding the high school. The district drained its 2004-05 fiscal-year legal budget of $350,000 in the first six months after having overspent its $270,000 budget for legal fees the previous year by $198,700. All of the $350,000 this year may not have been spent on the high school's legal fees.
As a general rule, government doesn't pay for litigation with capital projects money. Certainly some legal fees associated with the projects should be paid from the bond money, but ongoing legal fees shouldn't come from this category of funds. Using bond money may free general-budget funds for use in more appropriate areas of education. However, using bond money could desensitize the board even further from its fiduciary responsibility to examine the cost of litigation for this high school. Board members should be reminded every day about the cost of decisions they make. Taking money from construction costs might relieve the board and district of the responsibility to examine those expenses as often as they should.
Another valid reason is the concept of trust. Capital projects bond referenda are presented to the public on the basis of need. The public trusts that the board of education and the district has done the homework necessary to determine where a schools will be needed, and that the money won't be swallowed by legal fees. While the district debates the questionable location of a school that will be necessary at some point in the future, parents of students who live near Bluffton are begging for more space.
The board can bet that parents will be asking some hard questions before they approve another bond referendum.