Category: Schools

Projects Not in District’s Budget

WINNSBORO (Jan. 29, 2016) – During the Fairfield County School Board’s Jan. 19 regular meeting, Dr. J.R. Green, Superintendent, asked the Board to award a contract to the architectural firm, FW Architects of Florence, for engineering and design work for an expansion of Kelly Miller Elementary and Fairfield Middle schools so the portable classrooms can be removed.

While the projects had not been budgeted, Green told the Board he planned to pay for them with the $2.5 million transfer of funds from the general fund to capital projects fund that he asked the Board to approve in October.

“We have portables in the Middle School . . . and Kelly Miller Elementary School that I would like to see replaced,” Green told the Board. “Before we can go forward in terms of assessing what the ultimate cost of these projects would be, we need to bring an architect on board.”

Green said he appointed a committee to bid out the project. That committee, he said, recommended FW Architects of Florence.

“Is there any reason why this wasn’t brought up ahead of time, that you were pursuing these bids?” Board member Paula Hartman (District 2) asked.

Green replied that he wasn’t sure what he had told the board, but that he “thought it was clear that we would have to bring in some architects and establish some designs in order to determine what the costs would be.”

However, in a recording of the Oct. 20 meeting, Green made no mention to the Board that he planned to begin the bid process for an architect for the renovations. He only mentioned the need for renovations of the two schools in order to replace the portable classrooms, “a couple of new activity buses . . . we need to refresh some Chromebooks . . .and we have an issue with the cooling tower at the high school and I think we’ll eventually have to replace it.”

Green’s committee has, in fact, been pursuing an architectural firm for the school renovation project for at least the past two months. An invitation for bids was published Nov. 24 in South Carolina Business Opportunities (SCBO), seeking an architect and engineering services for “classroom additions for elementary and middle schools.” The deadline for submission of resumes to the School District was Dec. 17, 2015.

“What we are talking about today is getting designs for what you are looking at doing at Kelly Miller and the Middle School,” Board member William Frick (District 6) said. “To avoid any further confusion, are there any other projects you are anticipating?”

“Maybe a field house addition at the football field,” Green answered. “Other than that, no other renovations to facilities are anticipated.”

Board member Annie McDaniel (District 4) asked Green if the issues at the high school had been taken care of.

“I did identify the cooling tower at the high school. I did identify technology enhancement,” Green responded. “But before we are in a position where I can bring a comprehensive list before the Board, I have to get an idea on what the cost of these major projects would be. That doesn’t preclude us from pursuing anything else.”
If the costs are too high, Green continued, the District may not move forward with the school renovations.

“The issue is that you did not bring back before the Board a list of projects you were going to do. It’s not about whether they are needed. The issue is following protocol,” McDaniel said.

Hartman clarified that previously, when major projects such as the Career and Technology Center were initiated, the Board was much more involved in the selection process for the architects.

Green said this project (classroom construction) was much more limited, so the Board was not involved.

“Once we get these designs and you are able to prioritize, will you provide us a list of the capital projects you are looking to do?” Frick asked. Green said he would.

The Board voted 5-2 to award the contract to FW Architects of Florence, with Hartman voting against and McDaniel abstaining. Other than Frick, none of the Board members who voted to award the contract had any questions or comments about the process or the architectural firm.

RIDGEWAY (Jan. 1, 2016) – There will be no special election next month to fill the District 1 School Board seat left vacant by the Nov. 18 death of Andrea Harrison.

Filing for the election opened on Dec. 4, with the final deadline for write-in candidates at noon Dec. 29. When that deadline passed, only one person – Sylvia Harrison – had filed.

According to the Fairfield County Voter Registration Office, the outcome will be certified on Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. Sylvia Harrison (formerly Sylvia Waters) will then be eligible to take office on Jan. 11, just in time for the Board’s first meeting of the year on Jan. 19.

Sylvia Harrison, 48, of 250 W. Church St., Ridgeway, is the owner of Sylvia’s Designs Unlimited on Congress Street in Winnsboro, and has been involved for many years as the head of Sylvia’s Foundation, raising scholarship money for local students.

“I’ve been involved for a long time,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to help, to give back to my community. I don’t know all the challenges yet, but as far as I can see (the district) is moving forward pretty good. I want to be a positive on the Board and help move the District forward.”

Andrea Harrison was 45 when she lost her long-running battle with breast cancer last November. She was first elected in 2010 and won her second term in 2014. Pending certification, Sylvia Harrison will complete that term.

 

WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – A representative from the Fairfield County School District’s accounting firm, McAbee, Schwartz, Halliday & Co., presented the highlights of the District’s 2015 audit during the board’s regular meeting on Nov. 17.

In a communication letter to the board, the auditors stated that they found the board’s financial records to be free of material misstatement and gave the Fairfield County School District an unqualified opinion.

However, when Board member Annie McDaniel (District 4) asked the audit firm’s representative whether there was a management letter, he replied that one was not needed since any adjustments to the financial records were minimal and were corrected during the audit.

The highlights of the 2015 financial statement include:

• An increase in the general fund balance of $2.5 million (reflected after the board transferred $2.25 million into capital projects last month), compared to an increase of about $800,000 the previous year, with a resulting general fund balance of $9,260,000.

• A 9.2 percent increase in government revenues, for a total of $51.8 million.

• An increase of 30.37 percent in expenditures from government funds, for a total of $57.1 million, fueled by $12.3 million in capital projects and $0.7 million in expenditures of EIA revenue.

• Overall, the total liabilities and deferred inflows of the school district exceeded its assets and deferred outflows by approximately $4.4 million. Likewise, the district’s net position decreased by about $36.1 million in FY 2015. This was primarily due to an increase in bond liabilities ($12.5 million) and net pension liability ($43.7 million), which were offset by increases in funds due from the County Treasurer and capital assets.

As explained by the auditor, this change in the district’s net position was due to the imposition of new accounting rules, which require the school district to report its share of the net pension liability for the entire State government.

The auditor also commended the district for its strong general fund balance of $9.26 million, saying there are several advantages to maintaining this, such as improved cash flows, less impact from budget cuts and better bond rating.

The savings in the food service account that was discussed during the October board meeting was clarified by the audit. One reason given in October for a positive general fund balance was that $300,000 did not have to be transferred from the general fund into the food services program as had been anticipated, due to positive operations in the food service program.

According to the audit, those positive operations resulted primarily from the District’s food program receiving almost $400,000 more in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for school lunches in FY 2015. With the $400,000 increased federal revenue and a reduction in food service expenditures of $7,000, there was an overall $122,000 surplus, which allowed the District to retain the $300,000 within the general fund balance.

 

WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – In its last regularly scheduled meeting for the year on Dec. 15, the Fairfield County School District Board of Trustees voted to extend Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green’s contract for another year. This rolled forward the ending date of Green’s six-year contract to June 30, 2022, and was seen as a vote of confidence in Green, although not all board members were in agreement.

Shortly before the public meeting began, the board members completed individual written evaluations of Green. The board used an evaluation instrument that provides three possible rankings (Exemplary, Proficient or Needs Improvement) for each of five performance criteria – Community Engagement, Student Achievement, Leadership, Learning Environment and Fiscal Management. According to Board Chairwoman Beth Reid (District 7), this evaluation instrument has been used each year since Green first came to the district.

Board member Annie McDaniel (District 4) raised the issue that the evaluation instrument does not include any goals or objectives for the superintendent and is not what the School Board Association recommends for superintendent evaluations.

“There should be more specific goals listed under each of the different categories,” McDaniel said, noting that the board “did not receive any information in advance about Dr. Green’s accomplishments and what goals Dr. Green would have set for himself, which would have helped if we could have received that in advance and had the opportunity to review it so we could ask educated questions tonight.”

Reid moved the proposal forward, and the Rev. Carl Jackson Jr., Board Vice Chair (District 5), recommended extending Green’s five-year contract for another year.

When board member Paula Hartman (District 2) asked to see Green’s contract, Reid responded, “I can get you a copy, but not tonight. The contract is not being presented, just the amendment to extend the contract to 2022, making it a six-year contract.”

Hartman said that in her experience, the average length of a school district superintendent’s contract is three years and asked, “If he (Green) leaves the district, what is the amount that the board would have to pay out?”

Green responded that, if he left voluntarily, “the district is not obligated to pay me anything.”

McDaniel also expressed concern that the board was voting on a contract amendment without a written document in front of them.

“Was there a reason for not having an amendment drawn up so we could have an opportunity to review it before voting?” McDaniel asked.

“The action under the agenda item is clear,” Reid said. “There is going to be a recommendation to extend the contract. In the past four years we have done the same.”

“But last year, we had the actual amendment in front of us so we could review it,” McDaniel said.

Board member William Frick (District 6) pointed out that last year the board also amended the superintendent’s buy-out clause, so it was not a simple contract extension.

“We can continue to do this kind of reckless stuff on this board,” McDaniel said, “but we should have the amendment in front of us.”

Board member Henry Miller (District 3) said that he was in favor of a contract extension.

“Mr. Green is doing a great job,” he said.

The amendment to extend Green’s contract to 2022 passed 4-2, with McDaniel and Hartman voting against the extension.

There was no discussion on the results of the superintendent’s evaluation or how that tied into the contract extension.

Reached after the meeting, Green told The Voice that his current salary stays the same under the amended contract, but with automatic annual increases built into the contract.

In other business, the board heard from Frick on the recommendation of the board committee to study board members’ compensation.

Frick noted that Fairfield County School Board members, under Act 191 from 1991, are prohibited from receiving compensation but do receive a $35 per diem for each board meeting they attend. After several months of analysis and review, the recommendation of the committee is for the board to ask the Fairfield county state legislative delegation to amend the law to allow the board to set its own compensation.

 

WINNSBORO (Nov. 27, 2015) – The Nov. 17 Fairfield County School Board meeting was a 3-hour marathon as the Board received the 2015 results of student testing, voted to award teacher/employee incentives and briefly reignited the issue of out-of-state and overnight field trips for students.

Dr. J.R. Green, Superintendent, also hinted that the 2015 graduation rate would be higher than the statewide graduation rate of 80.3 percent once report card data was released by the S.C. Department of Education (DOE). According the report cards, released this week by the DOE, the District’s graduation rate soared to 90.7 percent in 2015, with a dropout rate of 0.1 percent. The District’s graduation rate in 2014 was 76.3 percent.

Green raised the issue of the out-of-state field trip for students, stating that he wanted to provide clarification that, with the exception of four trips – those to the Bahamas, Orlando, New York and Puerto Rico – all other trips will be funded from the school budgets that were already approved. Also, Green announced that the trip to Puerto Rico (at a cost of approximately $28,000) that was questioned at the Oct. 20 Board meeting had been cancelled.

He said the cost of the other three trips (totaling $87,000) would be funded in one of three ways: students will raise all the money needed; they will raise only part of the money and the principals of the schools involved will fund the balance from their budgets; or the students will raise only part of the money and the Board will be asked to fund the balance from the general fund.

Addressing the field trip issue earlier in the meeting, Board member Paula Hartman noted that significant statements made by herself and Board member William Frick from the October meeting were omitted from the minutes.

“Mr. Frick asked to have the total cost (of field trips) consistently show. I asked if we could have both the total costs and the amount the Board would pay (shown),” Hartman said. Board Chair Beth Reid agreed to have Hartman’s statement added to the record.

Green asked the board to approve $100 gift cards as an incentive for all full-time District employees as well as full- and part-time bus drivers, for a total cost of approximately $70,000. He suggested taking that money from the District’s legal fees budget. While this was approved by the Board, it generated a lengthy discussion.

“Why wasn’t this in the budget?” Hartman asked, noting that the board approved the same incentive last year and it should have been anticipated.

“It should be,” Reid agreed, stating that she would include the cost of employee incentives in next year’s discussion of the budget.

“But why wasn’t it included?” asked McDaniel. “The superintendent does the budget.”

Green stated he didn’t think to put it in the budget.

“It seems like we are using the legal fees as a slush fund to take whatever we want out of it,” Hartman stated. “We have budgeted it (legal fees) way too high and have done this in the past.”

Green replied that the reason for the over-budgeting for legal fees is that previously, in 2011 and 2012, the district spent about $300,000 in legal fees, but this has decreased and now the district is in its third year of reduced legal fees.

“I think it is a reasonable recommendation to reduce the budget for legal fees,” he said.

The Board approved the expenditure 5-1, with Hartman voting no.

Also on the agenda was a request by Green to move $50,000 from the general fund to the District’s arts program. Questioned why this expense was not established by the budget at the beginning of the year, Green said there was no opportunity to talk to the fine arts teachers to come up with a detailed spending plan before the budget was set. The transfer of $50,000 was approved by four members of the board with Hartman voting no and McDaniel abstaining.

“When we are talking about transferring money from one account to another,” McDaniel said, “we need more information than this.”

 

RIDGEWAY (Nov. 24, 2015) – Fairfield County School Board member Andrea Harrison lost her long-running battle with breast cancer last week, passing away on Nov. 18.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Ms. Harrison,” Dr. J. R. Green, Superintendent of Fairfield County Schools, said. “She worked meticulously to achieve the goals of the district. Ms. Harrison placed service above self and was a true steward of education. She served the district with dedication and devotion. Ms. Harrison brought great value and warmth to our district and will be greatly missed.”

Harrison, 45, was first elected to the School Board in 2010, and won her second term just last year. A memorial service was held Sunday at Fairfield Central High School.

A special election to fill Harrison’s District 1 seat will be held Feb. 16. Filing opens at noon on Dec. 4.