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School budget meetings begin tonight

Charleston County school leaders kick off a series of community meetings tonight to explain next year’s budget and gather feedback.

The meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m. at Burke High School, 244 President St., is the first of seven scheduled hearings that will take place during the next month.

Photo by Alan Hawes

The first of several community meetings to get feedback on next year’s budget for Charleston County Schools begins at 6:30 tonight at Burke High School.

School leaders are facing a projected $ 28 million shortfall, and they’ve made an estimated $ 11 million in cuts, such as outsourcing the district’s day porter or maintenance services, eliminating administrative staff, and reducing school-based positions such as media specialists, teaching assistants, secretaries, and clerks.

Past community hearings haven’t been well attended, but school board Chairman Chris Fraser said he expects more people to show up this year because the budget reductions are becoming more personal and affecting schools in new ways. Many parents and residents are asking the board to preserve special interests, but the board has to look at every area, he said.

“No one wants to cut athletics (or the arts), but at the end of the day, our core business is education and we have to do that,” he said.

The school board decided last week not to issue contracts to four groups of educators until it determines the classroom positions that it has available. Those affected include first-year teachers, retired teachers, those considered Visiting International Faculty, and those who have a letter of agreement, or haven’t taught in Charleston for the entire school year. They did exempt some teachers in those groups, such as those working in rural areas or hard-to-fill positions, such as math, science, foreign language or special education.

“We did this as a way of preserving our options,” said school board Chairman Chris Fraser.

The 421 educators affected by the board’s decision have fewer contract rights than the rest of the district’s teaching corps, so this move gives the district more flexibility for placing staff should it need to reduce its teaching force because of budget cuts, Fraser said. Those not in one of the four groups affected should know by May 15 whether they have a contract for next school year; the remaining teachers will have to wait longer to know their employment status.

School officials didn’t know how many of the 421 teachers would be rehired. Their salaries and benefits account for more than $ 22 million, but Fraser said that’s not the amount the board plans to save from this action.

Other scheduled budget meetings will be at 6:30 p.m. at the following sites:

March 9: Stall High, 3625 Ashley Phosphate Road

March 16: Moultrie Middle, 645 Coleman Blvd.

March 16: Lincoln High, 714 Lincoln Road

March 24: St. John’s High, 1518 Main Road,

March 24: Baptist Hill High, 5117 Baptist Hill Road

March 30: downtown district office, 75 Calhoun St.

Read more in tomorrow’s editions of The Post and Courier.

School budget meetings begin tonight