Officials call for property tax increase to help Florence County School Dist. 1 funding

Florence County School District 1 Superintendent Larry Jackson and Chairman of the Board Porter Stewart campaigned this week for a property tax increase to provide funding for new facility plans.

“This is the time. The needs of our children are at a critical point,” Stewart said at the final community meeting held at Wilson High School on Wednesday.

On Aug. 6, the Board approved year one funding to be used for work on a site the district acquired between Hoffmeyer and Ebenezer roads for the building of a new elementary school and middle school.

It also approved the concept of spending $17 million on a new elementary school that would act as a relief school for Carver and Delmae schools; $20 million on a New Moore Middle School, changing Moore from housing fifth and sixth grades to sixth through eighth grades; $17 million for a new North Vista Elementary; and another $17 million for a new Royal Elementary School to be built on the current Moore Intermediate School site. Also, partnering with Francis Marion University, the Poynor building will be converted into a performing arts high school. The specialized school will draw about 200 to 250 students from the other high schools in the district. This plan is contingent on another Board vote on the tax increase, which will come early next year. Construction could begin as early as July 2010.

A new school has not been built in District 1 in 14 years. The average age of the facilities is 41 years old, and 35 percent of the 21 campuses are more than 50 years old.

Jackson is proud of the maintenance staff for their tireless upkeep but says they are fighting a losing battle.

“Royal Elementary was built when Harry Truman was president,” he said.

Age is just one of the problems that plague District 1 schools. With the exponential growth of the school-age population in the past 10 years, up 14 percent, the city has been forced to use portable classrooms. This year, 182 portables are in use and house 20 percent of the district’s students. West Florence High School has 20 of those portables, and every school has at least one. The safety of the students in these portables is a major concern.

“When a school has 20 portables and the sheriff is chasing down a fugitive on those grounds, the school building goes into lockdown but the portables don’t have that kind of security,” said Debbie Hyler, executive director of The School Foundation, an independent organization that seeks to develop stronger ties between parents and the District 1 school community.

Parents are just as frustrated. At Delmae Elementary School, lunch is being served for some students at 9:45 a.m. because of the lack of facility space. For Betty Gregg, a grandmother of a North Vista student, it is unacceptable.

“That is just so sad,” Gregg said.

For this reason, Jackson and Stewart feel they have no choice but to invoke the Board’s ability to raise property taxes to pay for new facilities and restructuring. The two-year, pay-as-you-go plan would raise a total of $422 million in revenue with $4.1 million due back in interest. The property tax on a $50,000 home would go up 68 percent, from $38 to $64. On a $100,000 business, the tax also would increase 68 percent, from $114 to $192.

“I don’t have a problem with the taxes. You have to give to get what you want,” Gregg said.

Stewart feels this is a smart and much-needed investment for the community.

“Florence schools is actually one of the only districts in the state to have a surplus right now,” he said.

This, coupled with the low interest rates, makes it an ideal time to put this plan into action, he said.

In 2007, the Board lost a bond election to raise money for capital projects. This time, with the pay-as-you-go program, Jackson and the Board hope to finally make strides to improve the educational environment of District 1 schools.

“It’s my desire as a lifelong Florentine that this initial action provides impetus to do right by our children,” Jackson said.