GEORGETOWN, S.C. — The Georgetown County School District is facing a $5 million shortfall because of recent budget cuts announced by the state.

Superintendent Dr. Randy Dozier said he will make recommendations to the school board on ways to help make up the loss on Jan. 19 and, he said, almost nothing is off the table.

Last week, the State Budget and Control Board announced 5 percent across-the-board budget cuts in order to keep the $5 billion spending plan balanced.

The cuts are necessary because of high unemployment and slow tax collections in the state.

Dozier said the cut to the county — coupled with a four percent cut from the state this past September — equates to about $3 million.

He said he spent time Thursday meeting with an out-of-district financial advisor about how to deal with the cut.

“We have been dealing with this for the past few years and we have made cuts in a lot of areas,” he said.

He said he is already looking at ways to save on energy.

“Bill Crompton (the district’s building supervisor) has found ways to save about $15,000 a year on our natural gas bill.

 “While that may seem like a lot of money, it’s not. Unfortunately, you have to look at people and benefits and things like overtime, which is a fairly large expense,” Dozier said.

Dozier said more furloughs and possible layoffs are not being ruled out at this point.

One thing, he said, that is off the table is an increase in class size.

“I do not want to do that,” he said.

There may not be as strong of a push on teacher recruitment this year, Dozier said.

The shortfall is too large to try to make it up by taking money from reserves, he said.

“We are also looking at grant opportunities,” he said.

By Scott Harper

sharper@gtowntimes.com