Jasper County Board of Education s1

JASPER COUNTY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012

PRESENT: Kathleen Snooks, Berty Riley, Priscilla Fraser, Michael Hubbard, Cathy Gardner, Barbara B. Clark and Randy Horton

ABSENT: Alina Hamilton-Clark and Pamela Williams

1. CALL TO ORDER – Kathleen Snooks, Board Chairperson, called this Budget Work Session to order at 10:08 a.m. in the District Office Boardroom in Ridgeland, South Carolina.

2. ROLL CALL & ESTABLISHMENT OF A QUORUM – 7P/2A

3. NOTIFICATION OF NEWS MEDIA – The following news media were notified of the date, time, place and agenda of this meeting: Jasper Sun, Hardeeville Today, Beaufort Gazette, Savannah Morning News, The Gullah Sentinel, WSAV, WTOC and WJCL.

4. MOMENT OF SILENCE – A moment of silence was observed by the Board and audience led by Kathleen Snooks in the absence of the Board Chaplain.

5. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The pledge to the flag was recited by the Board and staff present.

6. *APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion for approval of the Agenda. A motion was made by Berty Riley and seconded by Cathy Gardner. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 7-0.

7. *BUDGET PROJECTIONS AND PRIORITIES DISCUSSION – . NON-SALARIED DISCUSSIONS . SALARIED DISCUSSIONS . PRELIMINARY BUDGET PLANNING

Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion to begin the budget projections and priorities discussion. A motion was made by Berty Riley and seconded by Michael Hubbard. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 7-0.

Dr. Washington stated that the purpose of this meeting was to have an open discussion with the Board on the 2012-2013 budget planning process. This is preliminary information and there have been a lot of changes that have come from the state. They want to keep the board members updated as they receive any new information. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE TWO

Sandra Mack-Huff, Director of Finance, shared that they are here to get feedback from the Board on what they want the administrators to put into the budgets and share information from the State Department. She does not have a lot of information at this point.

A PowerPoint presentation was shared and a handout given to each board member. Mrs. Mack-Huff shared an outline of the discussion for this meeting and a copy of the Budget Calendar that was approved by the Board. She stated that the Board was given the option of two times for the meetings on February 22nd and March 28th. She asked that they select a time. The consensus of the Board was to schedule these meetings for the morning on both dates (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.).

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared the different funding sources for K-12 Public Education in South Carolina which comes from federal, state and local governments (pages 5-7). She stated that there is misinformation out there about taxes and millage. It was noted in the PowerPoint presentation that: In FY 2006, the SC Legislature passed Act 388 which replaced property tax for school operations on owner occupied homes with an individual one (1) cent sales tax. All other property taxes for school operations are limited to the amount that can be increased on an annual basis by the percent of population growth for each county plus CPI (Consumer Price Index). In the year of implementation, FY 2008, allocations of the property tax relief funds were distributed to districts as direct reimbursement for the funds that would have been collected by each district through property tax collections. Counties that received less than $2.5 million from owner occupied homes prior to Act 388 received $2.5 million. In multi district counties, the excess is distributed by Average Daily Membership (ADM). Each subsequent year, the property tax fund will grow by the percent of state population growth plus the prior year CPI or 4%, whichever is greater. Beginning in FY 2009, districts will receive the base amount set in FY 2008 plus the growth funds, distributed by Weighted Pupil Units (WPU) and a poverty factor.

Mr. Hubbard questioned the state projection for this year. He knows that Jasper County receives 4% and not the CPI.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared that Jasper County is one of the counties that receives $2.5 million to make up for this because they are not at the threshold yet. Last year Jasper County received $1.8 million from owner occupied homes. They probably won’t see any additional amount this year.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared the history of the EFA Base Student Cost (BSC) and inflation factors from the State Department of Education for 1975-76 through 2010-2011 and a graph for this information (pages 8-9). MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE THREE

Dr. Washington pointed out in 2010-2011 that the BSC should have been $2,720, however, with the Proviso districts only received $1,630. This is close to a $1,100 decrease. With this kind of decrease in the BSC, they can see what a huge drop this was for school districts in terms of what they should have received from the state and what they actually received. This is the reason school districts have had to implement major cuts in the budget and/or furlough days for staff. She added for 2009-2010 the BSC should have been $2,687 but they actually received $2,034. When looking from one year to the next, the District went from receiving $2,034 to only receiving $1,630 the following year. The BSC for 2011-2012 is $1,765.

Mrs. Mack-Huff explained that Dr. Zais, State Superintendent, wants to take this amount to $1,880 for 2012-2013.

Mr. Hubbard stated that based on 3,200 students in the district they are looking at a lot of money being cut (more than 10% of the budget).

District information was shared on the number of schools, students and employees (page 10). Mrs. Mack-Huff added that this does not include the 200 students in Pre-K.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared the staffing standards for elementary, middle and high school (pages 11-14). They will be looking at the positions, criteria and what the State Department requirements are for these positions. She requested that the Board give them some direction on the student/teacher ratio that they would like to see in the classrooms based on the budget constraints that they have.

Mrs. Snooks questioned the maximum number that is allowed by the state.

Dr. Washington responded that the maximum for Pre-K is 20 students. The legislature has given districts flexibility to determine the numbers for all other grades. The Board has a say on how large or how small they want the class sizes to be. The current average ratio is 1:24.

There was some discussion on the student/teacher ratios.

Dr. Washington stated that the high school ratio would be larger and this would decrease down through middle and elementary grades.

Mrs. Fraser asked what kind of results are they getting with the class ratios that they have now. They need to consider the results that they are going to get from the students. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE FOUR

Dr. Washington stated that this is an excellent question. She explained that there are some classes in high school where there are only eight students in a class because of the overall population. They would need to look at ratio per content area and scheduling. They have to operate under the mandates of the state and federal government to offer certain courses to serve the students.

Dr. Washington shared that principals are present at this meeting today so they can hear the discussion and be able to go back to prepare information for the Board. When looking at ratios, this needs to be discussed across both campuses in order to be fair to all.

Dr. Washington asked the high school principals what the numbers were in their largest classes.

Cassandra Jennings, Principal of Ridgeland High School, responded that her highest number is 1:26 for 9th grade.

Jamal Crawford, Principal of Hardeeville High School, responded that this varies based on scheduling. He has one class at 1:10 and another at 1:28.

Ms. B. Clark added that, based on Mrs. Fraser’s question about the results that they are getting with the class sizes that they currently have, she would like to see the number of students in each class at all of the schools.

Dr. Washington stated that the principals will include this information.

Mr. Horton asked that they show the numbers of students per block for high school.

Mr. Hubbard stated that they need to remember that because the District is so small with 3,200 students across two schools, it is difficult to spread the number of high school students between the two campuses because they are so far apart. He requested to see the correlation of class size to performance; plus performance based on the teachers who are standing before the students.

Ms. Jennings (RHS) stated that the honors classes are the smallest. They would need to compare honors to honors classes and college prep to college prep classes.

Dr. Washington stated that the academics department will work with principals and building level leaders to come up with a detailed breakdown of the classes by grade level and content area, as well as making the comparisons with honors/college prep classes. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE FIVE

They need to discuss other options for college prep students, such as getting them onto a college campus to take courses.

Mrs. Snooks stated that another option would be to bring in a college professor.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared information on “funds” and the State Department of Education Funding Manual (pages 15-18). The Funding Manual is the state’s guide for the funds that are received by school districts. She shared a link on the state’s website where board members can go to view the Funding Manual, which lists every fund, the purpose, allowable and non- allowable expenditures, etc. and see how the different funds are handled.

Dr. Washington referenced an article in the newspaper where Denise Davidson stated that the district takes up about 190.1 mills. She asked Mrs. Mack-Huff to explain this for the Board.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared that Ms. Davidson evidently added the operating mills (165) and the debt service mills (25) because these are two separate types of mills. This should have been broken out into the debt service mills versus the operating mills. She reminded the Board that residential home owners do not pay school taxes.

Ms. B. Clark asked where the money comes from that the school district receives from the County.

Mrs. Mack-Huff responded that this money is from taxes that are levied by the County for automobiles, rental properties, second homes, businesses, etc. other than the 4%.

Mr. Hubbard explained that owner occupied homes are considered 4%. Everything else that is titled in the state of South Carolina is taxed based on mills.

Ms. B. Clark stated that this is where the misconception is. They need to see a listing of the mills set by the county and what the school district receives from them.

Mr. Hubbard stated that the District does not have fiscal autonomy. The District goes to the County and asks for a certain amount of dollars. He does not understand how the County comes up with the mills.

Dr. Washington stated that based on what the finance consultants told them she feels that the District is not getting its fair share from the County. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE SIX

There was some discussion regarding the collection of delinquent taxes and the money that is due from the County.

Mr. Horton stated that the District has attorneys and they should look into this for the District because it is in black and white.

Dr. Washington shared that the Abbeville County School District ended up suing its County Council because they were not getting what was due.

Ms. B. Clark stated that this is the reason for budget workshops so the Board can discuss this type of information.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared information on revenue sources and expenditures (pages 20-23). The three funding sources that the school district receives from are local, state and federal. She included graphs showing the percentages from each revenue source and the percentages for expenditures such as teacher salaries (38%), classified salaries (8%), administration salaries (6%), substitute salaries (2%), employee benefits (21%) and non-salaried expenditures (25%).

Information was shared about the InSite report that is on the State Department of Education’s website (pages 24-26). This report provides a breakdown of budget expenditures by category (instruction, instructional support, operations, other commitments and leadership) and allows comparisons to other districts. She included a sample report for FY 10.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared information on Tax Anticipation Notes (TAN), which is short term financing for school districts based on expected tax revenue (page 27). Most school districts issue a TAN because tax money comes in late. This money is paid back by the district by March 1 st from the proceeds from taxes collected in January. The District will probably need to issue a TAN again to make payroll and accounts payable payments until tax revenue comes in.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared that with all of the changes in the State Department this year the school district has to cover salaries, etc. for programs like IDEA and Title I until the funds come in.

Dr. Washington added that the new State Superintendent has decided to hold all projects on his desk so he can review them by line item before he releases them. In this process, school districts with low fund balances suffer from this.

Mr. Horton stated that they had $9 million in its fund balance at one time. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE SEVEN

Mrs. Snooks stated that this was because they did not have all of the certified vacancies filled.

Dr. Washington stated that this is why the district had $9 million it is fund balance. She also reminded the Board that they approved salary increases for teachers to compete with surrounding districts. This was the proper thing to do, but it did take money from the fund balance.

Ms. B. Clark requested for the next Budget Work Session a report on how much money the district has as a result of the current vacancies.

Mr. Hubbard stated that when he first came on the Board they had forty-five vacancies and this made the difference. He also added that Beaufort County may have a larger fund balance than Jasper County, but they also have a much larger bi-weekly payroll. They have to keep a larger fund balance because of their large operating expenses.

Dr. Washington stated that this is a good point. She does not want the public to think that the fund balance was spent foolishly. The Board felt that teacher salaries needed to be competitive with other districts. The question that they need to constantly ask is “are they getting what the money is paying for.” Principals need to remind teachers on a daily basis that they are accountable, that the Board has invested in them and they want them to be in an environment where they are appreciated.

Mrs. Snooks stated that in the past they were always having a large teacher turnover because teachers were going to work in adjoining counties. They had to make the salaries competitive.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared the importance of student projections in determining teacher allocations and school staffing ratios, estimating EFA allocations, etc. She shared a chart of the student enrollment for the last 10 years based on 135th day average daily membership (pages 28-30). Enrollment projections are also used to allocate the number of assistant principals per school, clerical staff, guidance staff, media specialists and aides. Each school has a principal and one clerical staff. The custodial staff is currently provided through contracted services.

Mrs. Mack-Huff reported that principals/department heads can transfer up to $5,000 with the Superintendent’s approval as long as the transfers have no effect on salaries, fringe or utilities. Anything over $5,000 must have board approval (page 31). They will be looking at budget transfers because of all of the projects in the district. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE EIGHT

Ms. B. Clark stated that she would like to hear from the principals in one of these budget workshops to see what their wish lists are.

Dr. Washington stated that this is included in the budget development process and principals will include this with their budgets.

Ms. B. Clark added that the Board needs to hear from the principals at some point even though Dr. Washington has the final say in what is presented to the Board.

Mrs. Mack-Huff stated that last year the different departments came and presented their budgets and the Board had the opportunity to ask questions. This will be a part of the upcoming work sessions and principals will be included.

Mrs. Mack-Huff shared different items that effected the 2011-2012 budget such as no step increase for teachers or classified staff, etc. (page 32).

Mrs. Snooks questioned if there are going to be raises for teachers this year.

Dr. Washington shared that the State Superintendent is not requesting any increases and this will be left up to the individual districts or local boards to decide. However, from a leadership standpoint, they cannot continuously say every year that they are not going to give employees an increase. At some point they need to look at increases for certain groups. There are staff employed that are doing double what is required of them and she feels they should be compensated.

Ms. Riley stated that she agrees and feels that they should look at this for the 2012-2013 Budget. She also feels they need to look at creative ways so they do not have to implement furlough days because this takes away from the employees.

Mrs. Mack-Huff responded that this is the reason for this discussion because some of the things that might make this happen are class sizes.

Dr. Washington stated that they need to bring to the Board what salary increases would look like and how this would affect the budget. She knows that this does not mean that the Board will approve it.

Mr. Horton stated that they did not have a balanced budget last year and now they are talking about raises. They can only look at what they have. He would agree with salary increases if they would eliminate positions that are not needed. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE NINE

Dr. Washington stated that she agrees with this and assured the Board that they are looking at ways to restructure and put people in positions where they will function better. They must look at where the needs are. There are some students that come to them that have more needs than others. The public schools cannot turn students away. They have to look at how they can serve the students with the resources that they have. Private schools have the right to say who they are going to serve. She is hoping that the public will join the district to help them meet the needs of the students.

Mrs. Mack-Huff reported that even though the district has had some challenges they do have some things to celebrate (page 33). The district has been awarded several grants, the establishment of District Teacher of the Month, WOW Awards to employees and district-wide direct deposit has been implemented.

In conclusion, Mrs. Mack-Huff shared the many unknown factors in the budget preparation (pages 34-35). She also shared websites that the board members can go to review financial information (page 36).

The board members were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments.

Mr. Horton questioned the base student cost for 2003-2004 (page 8) where the District received $1,701. He would like to see the 2003-2004 Budget for comparison. He also pointed out that even though they have not given employees salary increases the district has had to pay more for health insurance benefits due to increases in premiums.

Mrs. Snooks stated when they have someone in a position that is not performing they normally take this person and transfer them somewhere else. If they are not performing, maybe they should go somewhere else to work. She added that employees with high school diplomas that need more training have no excuse because there are higher education facilities in the area.

Ms. B. Clark stated that when there are teachers who are not performing legally they cannot just get rid of them. They must have documentation showing why this person is not being recommended for a new contract and this process takes time.

Dr. Washington stated that when she came to the district there was no documentation. The Human Resource person could not find any documentation in personnel files. She cannot go into the school buildings and just tell people to leave. They must hold the building administrators accountable. MINUTES – JANUARY 31, 2012 PAGE TEN

Mrs. Snooks stated that principals are the evaluators in the classroom and they must have that paperwork together. They must also demonstrate to these teachers who are not performing and show them what needs to be done. Documentation is very important.

Dr. Washington asked the administrative staff in the audience if they had any questions from what was discussed.

There were no questions from the administrative staff.

Mr. Hubbard asked if there is any word from the Charter School.

Dr. Washington stated that the charter school plans to open in August 2012. They have signed up approximately 250 students. She will ask them to let the district know so they can include this as part of the budget planning.

Mr. Hubbard stated that he is glad to see principals that have been in the district more than one year. It is good to have continuity. He added that the 2012-2013 Budget is going to be based on revenue. There are things that they would like to see but they are only going to have what the state and county give them to work with.

Mrs. Snooks stated that she has a problem with assistant principals who are not considered good enough to become principals. If an assistant principal is hired they should be qualified to become a principal in the future. They should not hire any assistant principal if this person could never be qualified as a principal.

This concluded the budget discussion.

8. *ADJOURNMENT – Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Berty Riley and seconded by Cathy Gardner to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 11:26 a.m.

Cheryl Hensley______Recording Secretary February 13, 2012______Kathleen Snooks______Approval Date Board Chairperson