Budget woes still beset School District
Last Updated on 12/4/2008
Published on 5/4/2008
Written by Dedric Bonds
"I've been working on the budget all week," said School District Superintendent Dr. Randy Dozier. "We're actually still $5 million in the red."
At one point, it was thought that the South Carolina General Assembly would attempt restoring some of the money that was lost by the state's local school districts.
Unfortunately, that has not happened yet.
"We've lost $3.4 million from the Educational Finance Act. I have to go by what I know for sure. I can't wait any longer, I've still got to go ahead with the budget," Dozier said.
By state law, the budget for the School District is to be completed no later than June 30.
If the money is not restored by the General Assembly, several enhancement programs that have been nurtured by the district, in some cases for at least two years, will have to be cut from the budget.
"Right now, I can't say for sure what they'll be," Dozier said. "More than likely, they will be programs to help, programs we've been building over the last past couple of years."
Some of the infrastructure needs have already been put off. The problems facing the Georgetown School District, however, are not anomalies.
"We've got a budget shortfall of $1.6 million. There are leaky roofs that need to be repaired, and we've put those off for the past two years now."
But there is some good news. Positive things are still happening across the district, in spite of the budget shortfall.
"The library site is moving along out on the Neck. We just completed the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the land, and that's a good thing," Dozier said.
When looking to the future, Dozier said of his District, "we've handled adversity well before, and I expect them to now."
The Georgetown County School Board will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the J.B. Beck Administration Center, when members will take up the budget.
