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District 50 official: Cuts likely


Assistant superintendent says final school budget still uncertain

 6/8/2012 12:41:00 AM

 By RUSSELL COX

 Although Greenwood School District 50's requested millage hike was not included in second reading of Greenwood County's 2012-13 budget earlier this week, the ongoing state budget process means the district still won't have all the answers needed for its own budget and personnel decisions for several weeks.
On Tuesday, County Council approved the second reading of the public school and operating budgets, which did not include a 3.32-percent millage increase cap District 50 requested. District leaders, including Superintendent Darrell Johnson and Assistant Superintendent for Business Gary Johnson, made the case for the hike in late May before Council's administration and finance committee.
The move, estimated to bring in about $600,000, was requested to offset some lost government revenue and rising costs. Council Chairman Robbie Templeton said no changes in any budgets, to his knowledge, are anticipated ahead of final readings June 19. Although they are not expected to change, nothing is final until then, Templeton said, "and that would be true any time."
Gary Johnson first reviewed a preliminary budget of about $57 million with the district board of trustees in April, an amount meant to address anticipated state-mandated salary increases and growing costs of insurance, retirement, utilities and other operational concerns. The budget would also pull $1 million from reserves.
He said a factor hurting school funding has been the state repeatedly waiving the EIA maintenance-of-effort requirement, which calls for funding to remain what it was the prior year, with funds for inflation added.

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