Darlington County School Board approves second round of budget cuts

DARLINGTON -- The base student cost for students in Darlington County schools will be cut to levels not seen since the late 1990s as the Darlington County School Board approved the second round of budget cuts during its monthly meeting at Lamar Elementary on Monday.

The original allocation for this school year was $2,034 per student. The first round of cuts dropped that base student cost to $1,910 and now drops to $1,764.

“We’ve taken little over $3 million in cuts this year,” Comptroller G.C. White said.

Cuts include a 20 percent reduction in district administrative travel and supplies, a 20 percent cut in athletic travel and extracurricular activities, a 20 percent cut in school administrative travel and supplies, a 20 percent cut in marching band travel and supplies and a salary freeze for all non-teaching positions. These cuts amount to $344,346.92 of savings.

The district negotiated the retiree salaries of five administrators, seven teachers, one custodian and nine food service operators, saving the district $18,805 in insurance costs. The Education Funding Act weighting system changes also cost the district another $179,000.

To cover the remainder of the $1.5 million cut, the district shifted carryover money from K-5 lottery, career specialists and technical assistance funds as well as cutting $23,802.84 from Title V Funds for Nurses. The carryovers are excess funds allocated but not spent in previous years. The General Assembly passed funding flexibility for school districts, which made these shifts possible.

“Starting next year, we’re $3 million behind,” White said because all carryovers will be spent and the federal stimulus funds will be gone.

“We’re absorbing the cuts now, but next year budget won’t have this money,” Vice Chair Warren Jeffords said.

Since 2007, the penny sales tax funding has exceeded expectations, and the excess, now close to $5 million, has been collecting in an account at the treasurer’s office.

White said this money has to be spent before the district could increase taxes to raise funds, but the district should not have to dip into the reserves until fiscal year 2011-12.

The board will meet for a budget work session 6 p.m. Feb. 22 in Darlington to discuss options for the next budget cycle ranging from a four-day school week to longer school days but fewer of them.

In other business, Curriculum and Instruction Assistant Superintendent Linda Graham, EIA/Federal Programs Director Emily Lunn and Exceptional Education Director Lynette Jordan made a presentation on the progress of interventionists at the elementary schools.

The interventionists help students in grades K through 5 who are struggling with reading. Part of the responsibility of interventionists is to see which students are making progress. If not, the student will be evaluated to learn why.

The Read Well program for grades K through 2 serves 280 students with a double dose of reading instruction at Cain, Carolina, Lamar, North Hartsville, Pate, Rosenwald and St. John’s Elementary and Southside Early Childhood Center.

The Soar to Success program for grades 3 through 5 serves 225 students to improve reading comprehension at Brockington, Brunson-Dargan, Carolina, North Hartsville, Rosenwald, St. John’s, Thornwell and West Hartsville Elementary.

“We’ve been pretty pleased with the data we’re seeing … overall seeing increases in students’ fluency,” Jordan said. “Students (in the program) are becoming more confident in class.”

Jordan said she has received only positive comments from teachers and parents. One teacher said, “All students have made progress in different ways, even if it doesn’t show on paper.”

The two-year program has been funded with stimulus money, and the district is not certain how it will continue to fund the programs.

The administration also recognized the 17 S.C. Junior Scholars from Darlington and Hartsville middle schools as well as the clean schools of the month Rosenwald Elemntary/ Middle in Society Hill and Pate Elementary in Darlington.

The district ended the meeting with an executive session to discuss the sale of properties and student transfer issues.

The next meeting of the school board will be 6 p.m. March 8, both at the conference boardroom at Darlington County School District Administrative Annex I in Darlington.