The members of the Aiken County Board of Education got an update they did not want during their May 10 meeting.
The board is working on its budget for the next year. They had approved the just over $230 million budget on the first reading during the April meeting. The second reading was scheduled for May 24.
In the meantime, they have been waiting for the South Carolina state House and Senate to release a new state budget plan to see how much funding it will include for education.
They got their answer, and it was not what they were hoping.
The state House had passed a $14 billion proposal in March that included salary increases for teachers.
However, Superintendent King Laurence told board members the version just passed by the state Senate, roughly $12.5 billion, would mean about $2.5 million less for Aiken County schools.
“And that will of course present some challenges for us and, of course, that’s kind of on the table right now, so we have to plan for that probability,” he said.
Laurence turned the meeting over to Tray Traxler, the district’s chief financial officer.
Traxler said they have looked at a variety of scenarios.
“One thing that I’ve shared in the past and I mentioned during our work study and update is that about 90% of our general fund budget is tied to salaries and fringe. So, in order to absorb this two and a half million, to take it out of what we presented in the first reading, that means that we’re going to have to hit salary and fringe it in some respect there, too. Pretty significant.”
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Laurence said the different versions must go to a House-Senate Subcommittee to reach a final version. He anticipates that will not happen for several weeks.
“So, we have an agenda item later on for your consideration, push back our final reading to give us some additional time to look at things, track things at the state level,” Traxler said. “But we’re not real sure at this point when the state might be finished with their budget. Of course, we would have to get ours in place by June 30.”
The board voted to delay the second reading and passage until the June 14 meeting. The state must have a new budget in place by July 1.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
