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School Board Seeks Ideas in Spending $80 Million: Public Input Will Help Kershaw County With Its Plans to Upgrade, Replace

Posted on: Monday, 16 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Kristy Eppley Rupon, The State, Columbia, S.C.

Jan. 16--Kershaw County school leaders want the help of residents in deciding how to spend close to $80 million to ensure equal facilities for students countywide.

The school board is expected to make public next month its plans to upgrade and replace existing schools, chairman Dana Morris said.

Public input will be sought on which upgrades to pursue over the next six years, Morris said.

"These are the community's schools," Morris said. "And we want to do what the community wants us to do.

"It's got to be prudent. It's got to be based on what the needs are."

The board paid $163,000 to consultants Heery International last year to evaluate the school district's facilities and make recommendations for improvements. The result was a $182 million plan that called for building six schools and making improvements at 14 others.

One recommendation -- to build a new Jackson Elementary School in Camden -- has brought dozens of residents to school board meetings in recent months.

While Heery recommended a new facility because the school's site is too small, the board is considering an add-on, as the building has 20 to 25 years of useful life left, Morris said.

But principal Theodore Jackson said students need a new facility.

"We currently have music and art classes on the outside in portable classrooms," he said, adding there is not much room for movement and no water for art programs.

The school, which previously housed only two grades, was restructured in 1998 as a K-5 elementary school. Kindergarten and first-grade classes took over the rooms meant for music and art classes.

"We need larger classrooms," he said. "We need more space."

Morris said the board will settle on a final plan before deciding where to get the up to $80 million needed for improvements.

Traditionally, the board would ask voters in a referendum to approve borrowing the money -- possibly as early as June. But board members are considering an installment purchase plan, which several other districts have used. The district would set up a nonprofit foundation to borrow money from a bank and then to lease the facilities back to the school district for the next 20 years.

The problem with that plan, Morris said, is "it goes around the concept of having referendums to ask permission from taxpayers. That's why I think our board is so uncomfortable with it."

However, the option is still on the table because the district might be able to structure payments to save up to $10 million.

Reach Rupon at (803) 771-8622 or krupon@thestate.com [mailto:krupon@thestate.com].

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

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Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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