|
School
districts face consolidation issue again
February
2, 2005
By WALLACE
McBRIDE
Index-Journal
senior staff writer
Less
than a month into the new session of the S.C. General
Assembly, many school district superintendents are
experiencing a sense of déjà vu.
School district
consolidation — a concept believed dead at the close of
the last session — has reared its head again. A bill
filed by State Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, calls for the
elimination of all multi-county school districts,
consolidating these territories inside county
boundaries.
Gov. Mark Sanford has put forth a similar
measure in his budget, which boasts of saving the state $26
million by consolidating school districts with fewer than
2,500 students by the 2006-2007 school year.
“It didn’t
have legs last year, and I certainly hope it doesn’t this
year,” said State Rep. Mike Pitts. “But who knows? It’s still
early in the two-year session.”
Viers’ proposal would merge
the state’s 85 school districts into 46 counties, while
Sanford would require 22 districts to consolidate.
“The
goal here is to redirect upwards of $20 million directly to
the classroom, as opposed to being spent on duplicating
administration,” said Will Folks, a spokesman for Sanford’s
office.
“The bottom line is we’ve got too many school
districts in South Carolina.”
The concept has found little
support from local school officials, though.
“I don’t
believe it will move this year, either, because there are so
many political forces to reckon with in countywide
consolidation,” said Fay Sprouse, superintendent for School
District 51, Ware Shoals.
Under Viers’ proposal,
Spartanburg County would be forced to merge seven districts,
she said.
Anderson, York and Lexington counties each have
four or more school districts.
Nationwide, 74 percent of
all school districts have 2,500 or fewer students, according
to a written statement on the Ware Shoals school district Web
site.
“Ware Shoals School District — with 1,200 students —
may be small, but we offer a quality education with a personal
touch,” Sprouse said. “The administration, teachers and
parents know each other, which enhances communication.”
Dan
Powell, District 52, Ninety Six superintendent, said merely
eliminating the salaries of superintendents in small districts
such as Ware Shoals and Ninety Six would not realize Sanford’s
projected $26 million in savings.
“You’d obviously have to
close some schools and get rid of a lot of staff,” he said.
There are presently 306 students who commute to Ninety Six
from outside the district. The district has a total of 1,604
students.
“Putting us in a larger school district is not
the answer for Ninety Six,” he said.
“I’m not certain that
that’s the most effective way to go about educating our
people,” said State Sen. Billy O’Dell. “I think the smaller
districts are doing a great job in some cases — and in some
cases they aren’t. But I don’t see eliminating them as the
answer to our educational problem.”
“I don’t think bigger
always means better,” said State Rep. Anne Parks. “I think it
would take away from the individualism that each one has.
(Sanford’s) sole purpose, he says, is to save money. I think
we need to take a close look at whether it would save money in
each school district or not.”
State Rep. Gene Pinson
questioned the true nature of the consolidation, specifically
how a countywide school district would manage the larger area
without maintaining a similar number of employees.
“It
sounds good to consolidate, but when you consolidate and you
don’t downsize, what are you going to gain?” he asked.
“Besides, we’ve got so many traditional ties with local school
districts and hometown communities.”
“It makes sense in the
Pee Dee and the Lowstate, because you have a good many school
districts that are less than 1,000 students there,” said
Pitts. “The geography of the Upstate is far different and
makes it a much more complex issue.”
Pitts said some
schools are also privy to special tax district funds, an issue
that has not been addressed.
“Hillcrest High School in
Fountain Inn dips into Laurens County, and people have been
paying taxes for years — it’s a special purpose district,” he
said. “That would have to be eliminated.” Ware Shoals’
district is divided into three counties, Pinson
said.
“You’ve got the high school in Greenwood County, the
middle school is in Abbeville County, and the elementary
school is in Laurens County,” he said. “What kind of impact is
consolidation going to have there?”
“I think what’s unfair
is that we’ve got a lot of kids that continue to be held
back,” Folks said. “We continue to spend too much on
bureaucracy. Money we do spend on education has to be spent
better.”
| |
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
