More than 20 residents spoke Monday night at Clarendon County Council’s regular meeting held at East Clarendon Middle-High School, the majority of which wanted to know why education in Clarendon County can’t be funded on a per-pupil basis across the board.
“Every child that lives over here deserves the same amount of money spent on them that any other child has,” said Mary Frances Coker, a former Clarendon 3 teacher. “Just give us an equal share for every child. Count them as children of the county, not as school district 3 or 1 or 2.”
Coker also took umbrage with perceived comments from letters from districts 1 and 2 offering to help the district look at ways to cut or share expenses.
“We’ve cut everything we can cut,” she said. “We have 4.5 people working in the district office. One is part-time. We’ve got people doing two and three and four jobs.”
According to the most recent audits for each district, District 1 spends about $7,566 per student, while District 2 spends $6,017 and District 3, $6,334, Council Chairman Dwight Stewart said.
He said the allocation is based on a formula created under state and federal law in 1984.
“We don’t know how to bring that equity, and that’s the question that’s before us,” Stewart said. “We have provided a solution for a first step.”
That first step involves changing the language of the current 2004 penny sales tax to allow for the use of leftover debt service funds to cover both operations and capital expenses. Right now, the law only allows leftover funds – after debt payments – to be used for capital expenses.
Clarendon School District 3 board member Jason Newsome asked Stewart and council members why they won’t vote to ask legislators for a change in the law that will also invert how leftover funds are paid out.
District 3 asked in December for the inversion, which would distribute leftover funds based upon the lowest-assessed property tax valuation, which currently favors District 3.
District 3 would get the bulk of the money under the inversion.
“What is the justification y’all have for not making the recommendation to the Legislative Delegation to invert the payout?” Newsome asked. “I think we left that meeting in December with the notion that you wanted to help.”
“We do want to help,” Stewart answered, noting that Clarendon 1 and 2 both balked at the inversion, but not the change for use of funds in operations.
“But it’s not their decision to make,” Newsome interjected. “You are our elected leaders. What is your justification to not lead?”
Stewart said it would be same “if the situation were reversed.”
Stewart said earlier in the meeting that an inversion would likely harm District 2. District 1 currently has no leftover funds after debt service payments from the penny sales tax. District has about $400,000 left over, and plans to use that money for capital improvements.
District 2 has discussed such improvements at recent board meetings. One such improvement included security doors at Manning Elementary School like those currently at the Manning Early Childhood Center.
“Y’all keep saying that you’re not wanting to harm 1 and 2,” Newsome said. “This is capital improvement money. Next year when they’re trying to make their capital improvements and they can’t, how does that harm them?”
“(Clarendon 2 Superintendent John) Tindal says they have plans for that money, for capital improvement,” Stewart answered.
“Well I think it’s more common sense to pay the light bill in one district than to buy new road signs in another,” Newsome said.
Stewart said he could grant that request, with one county millage.
“That’s the solution, but you don’t want to hear that we have to have one millage if we’re going to treat everyone fairly, and that means a consolidated school district with one school board,” Stewart said.
One resident asked Councilman Benton Blakely if there hadn’t been “some agency within the past 30 years” to come and ask the county for help when it ran a deficit.
“I have a feeling you’ve probably helped several entities or agencies,” the man said. “I don’t see why council can’t help us in a one-time way like they have those agencies.”
Blakely and Stewart both noted that council previously aided Clarendon School District 1 with a loan between $500,000 and $750,000 before the current tenure of Clarendon 1 Superintendent Rose Wilder, who has been with the district now for a decade.
“We did help District 1 out, but we don’t have even $250,000 to give now,” Stewart said.
Laura Fleming asked why a rewriting of the bill couldn’t specify that the county divide money on a per-pupil basis.
“This penny sales tax isn’t based on millage, so why can’t it be rewritten for per-child in Clarendon,” Fleming said. “Our dollars go to this penny sales tax. I know I do and everyone else in this room spends money in Manning and Summerton. That’s our money, too.”
David said the current money is actually divided on per-pupil basis, but is allocated through the same formula that governs other educational funding.
Former East Clarendon High School Principal Dwayne Howell – who is now the school’s athletic director and Turbeville mayor – said he didn’t understand how a “top-performing” district like Clarendon 3 gets nothing for its good work or test scores.
“When I (first) retired in 2006, we were a Palmetto Gold School,” Howell said. “Do you know how much money we got back from the state for that recognition? $2,000.”
“I went to a neighboring school district where the faculty gets called in and told to make a wish list because they have $325,000 carry over in funds from the previous year that they couldn’t spend,” Howell said. “There’s the inequity. You have districts that aren’t functioning educationally with the children and meeting requirements, they get all the funding. Those of us that are good get nothing.”
“We get punished for our good scores,” Howell added. “I’ve always said that if you want to see a school district that does an awful lot with nothing, come to Clarendon School District 3.”
Sen. Kevin Johnson, D-Manning, said inequity in educational funding goes far beyond the boundaries of districts 1, 2 and 3.
“This is not an us against them,” Johnson said. “A lot of the things you’re saying tonight, distributing the funds equally across the board, if it were as easy as just doing it, we would do it.”
Johnson said he is personally not for or against consolidation to solve the problem.
“I’m for what the people want,” he said. “Until people in Clarendon County say they want consolidation, I will not introduce a bill to that effect.”
However, Johnson said a county-wide millage, where everyone pays the same rate, would require consolidation.
“That’s what you’re talking about when you get into this talk about paying equally and distributing equally,” he said. “You’re talking about consolidation.”
Anything else would lead to “taxation without representation.”
“You would have people paying in one area of the county but who don’t have a say in how that money is spent across the county in another area or district,” Johnson said.
He said while a bill has been drafted changing the language of the 2004 penny sales tax to allow for leftover funds’ use in operational expenses, it still has to pass House, Senate and Gov. Nikki Haley’s approval.
“She’s not a proponent of anything that will increase taxes on people,” Johnson said.
Rep. Robert Ridgeway, D-Manning, said the current House budget will allocate about $100 per pupil per district in 2015-16. Former District 3 finance director Sandra Bagnal said that would only net the district about “$61,000, not enough to even cover one step increase for our teachers.”
Blakely said he’s “unsure what else we can do over here in District 3.”
“We have cut, cut, cut until there’s nothing left,” he said. “I don’t know what else we’d do, just have children bring flashlights to school and don’t use the lights, I guess. But we have some of the most dedicated and best people in this district that you will find.”
