District 17 board discusses ideas for new district's HQ, administrators

By BELTON WHITE
Item Staff Writer
bwhite@theitem.com

Several ideas on providing office space for Sumter County's consolidated school district were presented Monday evening, including taking out a bond referendum to build a new administrative headquarters.

Greg Simonson, chairman of Sumter School District 17's Board of Trustees, told his fellow board members during a work session that the bond could be repaid after the current administrative buildings for districts 17 and 2, along with the property at Bultman Drive and Kilgo Street that would have housed a new District 17 office building, are sold.

The new administration building would go wherever the two school boards, Sumter Consolidation Transition Committee, city and county governments, and merchants feel would best benefit the community.

"A major, new facility with at least 130 well-paid workers, placed in an area one wishes to stimulate growth for local businesses, would do Sumter no harm," Simonson wrote in a letter.

Trustee Keith Schultz has his own ideas, in addition to agreeing that Simonson's plan is an option. Schultz wrote that Sumter School District 2's Joseph D. Lefft Administrative Building on Wilson Hall Road could be expanded, or that the new district might want to use an existing school for its temporary or permanent location.

"These are ideas," Schultz said before presenting his letter to the board. "Whether you have any thoughts about them, positively or not, these are just ideas."

This discussion comes after trustees for both school boards came to a consensus during a joint meeting Oct. 12 that the existing districts would work together to come up with a plan for administrative space for the consolidated school district.

Because both districts do not have the money in this fiscal year to pay for any new administrative space or renovations, the boards will have to come up with a way to pay for the project once a decision is made on how to proceed.

The Rev. Isaac Johnson, a board trustee, hesitated when Simonson mentioned presenting the ideas to District 2 trustees the next time the two boards meet. Johnson said he felt like that was the transition committee's responsibility and that the boards may be taking that responsibility away.

"I would ask that we not present anything, unless it is requested by us," Johnson said. "I attended that (Oct. 12 joint) meeting, but I didn't get a feeling or request that we devise a plan for the housing of the district in a new facility. I just did not."

Simonson and Schultz both said they recalled Sumter City Councilman Dr. Bill Painter, who is co-chairman of the transition committee, telling the two school boards that the committee would prefer the two school districts work together to come up with a solution.

In a related matter, District 17 Superintendent Dr. Zona Jefferson presented, for the board's approval, a draft for how the administrative staff might look for the consolidated district.



She and District 2 Superintendent Dr. J. Frank Baker have worked together to make a recommendation to the superintendent and school board of the consolidated school district as to how many staff members the district office may need.

"It's our starting point for discussion with District 2," Jefferson said after the meeting.

The superintendents have already started going through the contracts of their administrative employees to determine what the differences are.

The chart presented by Jefferson breaks down the superintendent's office into five branches with a total of about 137 positions.

Trustees also discussed whether they could run for election to the new school board while serving on the District 17 board.

According to Senate Bill 639, Section 7-C, which deals with the districts' consolidation, trustees on either existing school board who are elected to the new board must first leave their current position before assuming the new one.

The governor would then fill the vacancies left by any departing trustees.

Before discussion on consolidation issues, John Thames, District 17's assistant superintendent for finance, gave the board a budget calendar for the current school year, and Jefferson told the board about all schools offering the H1N1 vaccine through the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to those students who were given consent by their parents.

Jefferson also informed the board on an educational forum on the impact of Act 388 on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. at Central Carolina Technical College's F.E. DuBose center in Manning.

Act 388, passed in 2006, shifted the burden for funding school operations from property taxes to an increased sales tax.

Sales tax revenues have dropped sharply as people have spent less during the economic downturn, resulting in funding shortfalls to school districts across the state.



Contact Staff Writer Belton White at bwhite@theitem.com or (803) 774-1295.