Governor signs resolution giving districts flexibility, but stimulus impasse still looms

COLUMBIA – South Carolina school districts struggling with state budget cuts will soon have more flexibility to manage their dwindling resources.

Gov. Mark Sanford today signed legislative resolutions that give districts more leeway to shift funds, furlough employees or renegotiate salaries for some retired teachers who have returned to the classroom. The measure also delays the deadline for districts to offer teaching contracts for next year from April 15 to May 15.

“This is welcome news for school administrators and board members who are up against the funding wall at this very moment,” said State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, who asked the General Assembly to approve the flexibility measures at the start of the current session. “Realistically, though, this development is overshadowed by the issue of whether federal stimulus money will be available for schools over the next two years. As long as that decision is delayed, it has the same effect as a negative decision for public education and for our state.”

Rex said that even a one-month delay in the teacher contract deadline may be too late for districts making their 2009-10 spending plans. “Given the stimulus impasse, districts can’t build next year’s budgets based on dollars they might not have,” he said. “They don’t have a lot of confidence that a stimulus deal will be struck quickly enough to matter.”

Flexibility to allow teacher and administrator furloughs, along with the ability to transfer funds between mandated programs, will be useful as districts close out the current school year and look to preserve jobs, Rex said. He cited a planned two-day teacher furlough in Charleston County that reportedly will save the school district about $1.7 million.

“That could translate into nearly 30 saved teaching positions,” Rex said. “We’ve said all along that our focus is on saving as many teaching positions as possible and keeping the impact of these budget cuts away from the classroom. And beyond that, adding to the state’s overall unemployment rate is that last thing we need to do now.”

Additional latitude to shift program funds is another boon for hard-pressed districts that will allow more resources to be allocated for core academic functions. “Frankly, some of the categorical funding for mandated programs is inadequate now, especially programs that have been around for awhile,” Rex said. “Under the current circumstances, the money would be better spent on more critical needs now and next year.”

The resolutions signed today also give districts flexibility on the use of state lottery funds, and they also require districts to establish uniform methods in renegotiating salaries for some retired teachers who have returned to the classroom.

The measures also encourage districts to reduce expenditures by such means as limiting low-enrollment courses, reducing travel for district staff and boards, reducing and limiting activities requiring dues and memberships, reducing transportation costs for extracurricular and academic competitions, and expanding virtual instruction.