Dorch 2's budget to jump more than $13M

Most of that money to go to district workers

SUMMERVILLE — Dorchester District 2 officials are projecting a budget increase of more than $13.7 million for the upcoming 2008-09 school year, but Superintendent Joe Pye said the district has little leeway on how to use the funds.

At a budget workshop with school board members Monday night, district officials presented a general fund budget proposal that shows revenues and expenditures growing from $129.4 million this year to $143.1 million in 2008-09. The district expects enrollment to increase by 650 students next year, which is less than the overwhelming 900-student per year spike that the district has averaged in recent years. The enrollment downturn means less money will flow to the district from the state, said Allyson Duke, director of business services for the district.

Of that $13.7 million jump, roughly $11.4 million must be spent on a standard cost-of-living increase in salaries and benefits for employees. That $11.4 million also includes hiring 56 additional teachers at a cost of $3.4 million as the district attempts to keep pace with rising enrollment, Duke said.

Pye and his staff recommended spending the remaining $2.3 million on start-up costs for the new Ashley Ridge High School, beginning summer school in elementary and middle schools, slightly increasing each school's per-pupil discretionary money and following state-mandated programs for mentoring new teachers. Pye said that list of new initiatives doesn't come close to what principals and instructional leaders originally requested.

"We had a list of about 100 things, and what did we put in the budget? Four or five," Pye said.

It's shaping up as a tight budget year for all local school districts, but Pye said Dorchester 2 especially is hamstrung. The district spends almost of all of its money trying to keep up with growth, and not on instructional programs that could reduce class size or bring foreign language teachers to elementary schools.

"Our children are not getting the same education as those in Charleston, Berkeley or even in Dorchester 4 or Colleton," Pye said. "All of our money is going to trailers and salaries."

District officials also hoped to spend $2 million to purchase roughly 40 portable classrooms that are now leased, but there's no room to fund the expenditure in the general fund budget. Pye said the district could borrow against its 8 percent debt limit to pay for those units, or include them as part of a potential upcoming referendum for school construction.

The district wants to remove several of the mobile units at Oakbrook Elementary, which is hundreds of students above capacity, and replace the portable classrooms with a more- permanent modular wing.

In the long run, a modular wing would be cheaper than continuing to lease mobile units, Pye said. And such classroom setups could become more common as the district grapples with its facilities crunch.

"If we don't pass a referendum, we'll become a modular city," he said.

The school board must vote to approve the budget proposal in the coming weeks before presenting it to Dorchester County Council.