Schools to face more-manageable budget cuts

The state Department of Education will cover the majority of a $30 million mid-year budget cut, leaving local districts and schools with far less of a burden than was feared last week.

Education leaders panicked when they learned that a revenue shortfall resulted in $30 million less in Education Improvement Act funds than originally was projected for the current year. With less than two months remaining in the school year, officials questioned how they could trim money from budgets that already have funded teacher salaries and programs.

Figures obtained Wednesday show that the Education Department plans to absorb more than $27 million, meaning that local school districts will be responsible for cutting only a combined $2.4 million. The Charleston County School District will cut less than $150,000, while Berkeley is responsible for less than $90,000 of that statewide total. Dorchester District 2 will see a reduction of roughly $44,000 and rural Dorchester District 4 will trim slightly more than $10,000.

"It could have been worse," said Brantley Thomas, the Berkeley district's executive director for financial services.

A variety of strategies were used to cover the state-level funds, said Jim Foster of the Education Department. More than $12 million was surplus revenue rolled over from the previous year, and $9.2 million was found in unspent money that traditionally was used for a school building fund. That left roughly $8.6 million to trim from specific Education Improvement Act academic assistance initiatives, which generally pay for programs such as summer school, alternative schools, Advanced Placement classes and gifted and talented programs.

Foster said the Education Department made some cuts by eliminating money that's usually carried over from year to year as a way of helping the agency pay bills.

"A family wouldn't spend its savings, but that's essentially what we are doing here," he said.

But district officials aren't complaining.

Thomas said he initially expected Berkeley's cut to be two or three times higher, so he was pleasantly surprised that the Education Department covered such a large percentage. The district still will have to examine all budgeted funds that haven't been spent yet to determine where to find the $90,000, he said.

Thomas said the school district remains concerned about the impact that lower-than-anticipated revenues will have on next year's budget allocation from the state, although he's received assurances that the standard funding level per student and cost-of-living salary increases for employees won't be targeted.

In addition to this year's $30 million cut, education officials have been told to plan for $30 million less next year because of slumping revenues in a poor economic climate.

Trimming the budget

Budget cuts to Education Improvement Act funds for the current 2007-08 year:

County -- Total EIA funds received -- Reduction

Berkeley -- $4.3 million -- $89,451

Charleston -- $6.9 million -- $143,038

Dorchester 2 -- $2.1 million -- $44,147

Dorchester 4 -- $516,893 -- $10,649

Total of all school districts in the state -- $116.2 million -- $2.4 million