Rural SC District Can’t Count
In this dire economic and budgetary climate, you’d think that local governments would be keeping an “Eagle Eye” on their respective bottom lines. After all, every dollar counts, right? Especially when it’s “for the children …”
Not in Chesterfield County, apparently.
There, two local newspapers – the Cheraw Chronicle and the Chesterfield Advertiser – recently reported that the local public school district (one of South Carolina’s worst) had balanced its $50 million budget.
All well and good right?
Well, it would have been … had the district’s actual budget not been $73 million.
From our friends over at The Voice:
The article … (cites) a “budget totaling $50,115,377.00” for the 2009-10 school year.
Only problem – that’s not the whole story.
(According to figures obtained) from the SC Legislature, the district will be spending $73,102,610.00 in the 2009-10 school year. Broken down by source, Chesterfield School District will receive per-pupil appropriations of $4,700 in state funding, $1,453 in federal funding, and $3,303 in local funding.
In other words, the district will receive $9,457.00 in public money for each of the 7,730 enrolled students. Compare that to $6,483,23, the per-student average of the $50 million budget announced by school officials. The gap between local, state, and federal funding figures and the officially (self) reported budget exceeds $23 million.
Is it just us or are these the people who are supposed to be teaching our kids to count? Sheesh … no wonder our state’s education system is so screwed up.
Chesterfield County has seen its academic standing drop in each of the past five school years – despite receiving an increase in taxpayer funding. Additionally, the district’s carry-forward reserve account has more than doubled over the last four years.
Given the rampant corruption that exists in this neck of the woods, any discrepancy in public monies is cause for concern.
By the way, if you haven’t checked out The Voice lately, they’ve got a sweet new layout to their website. Nice work guys!
Comments
By I knew it... on July 31st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I live in this county and it needs a good cleaning, top to bottom. God help us, we are one of the most corrupt counties in SC and there are too many greedy-ass people running things around here.
Thank goodness for Barbara Bullard tackling the Solicitor Issue, as well as others.
I will personally pass this on and call the school district myself.
However, we do have some excellent teachers here and PTO members. Gotta give credit where credit is due and we’re thankful for them.
There are some, however, with outright racist mentalities and there is no room for that. The black/white issue should have died long ago.
Praying this county will get cleaned up. Thanks, FITS, for covering the important news here.
By GnuBerry on July 31st, 2009 at 1:04 pm
you seem obsessed with vouchers
By Todd on July 31st, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Hey, wait just one minute! In Richland Counry, we’ve got Mark Sanford, Jean Toal, the City of Columbia accounting department, Barney Giese (I actually like Barney) and the Legislature as a whole most of the time. Just don’t slip and call yourself the most corrupt county. Just one of the most corrupt…… Have a nice day. ….. Sic, let’s have a contest and accept nominations for the most corrupt county…..
By SCCON on July 31st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
It’s not a Chesterfield thing. It’s a public school thing.
By Reality Check on July 31st, 2009 at 1:24 pm
This is a good story.
It could be told 85 times!
There is not a single school district in the whole state that is 100% honest about the money it takes in, what the money is for, how it spends its money, and what is left over.
And of course, by “its” money i mean my families local, state, and national taxes!
By Robert Shakari on July 31st, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Well, ain’t this some ****. The head of the County School Board is the brother to our State Representative that has been previously mentioned on this very website before in reference to the former Solicitor’s “scandals”. It keeps going, and going, and going….
By Sick Of It All on July 31st, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Maybe the Chairman of Chesterfield County School Board, “Pastor Chad Vick” should re-enroll in the math classes provided at the local high school or adult education classes at Robert Smalls. He and his brother Congressman, Ted Vick can carpool. It is apparent they both need to improve their mathematical skills.
By SAY WHAT? on July 31st, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Nice shot of Chesterfield’s main street and the old “money trap” courthouse.
By BIN News Editorial Staff on July 31st, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Reality Check needs to put down the SCRG crack pipe.
What a typical voucher clown.
As for sic(k) willi’e post, everyone knows he’s just a pimp for SCRG and Howie’s other voucher clowns. Notice the Voice for Voucher Scams web site is no longer even trying to hide its incestuous relations with SCRG.
Remember boys, vouchers are dead in SC. Jakie said so.
Howie’s voucher scam does nothing to help those who need help the most. In fact, it would leave those who need help the most even further behind.
That’s why it’s a scam. That’s why vouchers are dead in S.C.
BIN News Editorial Staff
Flair and Balanced
By Liberty for me on July 31st, 2009 at 10:39 pm
ABOLISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!ABOUT AS EFFICIENT AND AS EFFECTIVE AS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
By I knew it... on July 31st, 2009 at 11:22 pm
25 million is far beyond not 100% honest.
Last year, I was elected treasurer for a local school in Cheraw starting an official PTO. I asked for previous year’s budget several times. Never got it. Turns out after a phone call to a trusted acquaintance and a little bit of digging, I found out the budget was unbalanced. Way off. This school took in 5 figures with one fundraiser alone.
Never saw a sheet of paperwork, but someone was trying hard to cover this up. One name that popped up as someone involved was one of the same people on Mercy Ministries Board.
Now this MM member is a good person as far as I know, but…gotta wonder.
Come on, Chesterfield County, yall can do better.
Would it really hurt the School District employees at the top to skim off some of that 6 figure income and let a little trickle down to, say, teachers, aides, etc. you were gonna lay off? These are hard times.
Darn, gotta keep an eye on everything in this county. And I’m sure we could rival Cola -town in a corruption battle.
By Ron on August 1st, 2009 at 6:39 am
Good morning Will,
Public school districts across SC and the US routinely and fraudently misrepresent their revenues and spending to their constituents especially when they’re trying to pass a bond referendum or increase their annual budgets. That’s why I call them government schools rather than public schools. The majority of citizens have “lost their trust” in government entities whether it be at the school house, the court house, the state house or the white house.
By Ron on August 1st, 2009 at 6:40 am
About half the states face various court cases concerning school financing. Another 21 have only recently settled similar suits, and most will start litigating again soon. Only five states have avoided litigation entirely. Spending lawsuits began in the 1970s, when they focused on equalization of spending between rich and poor districts. (The Economist, 11-25-04)
By the 1990s, the focus of spending litigation shifted from the allocation of resources to demanding a subjectively “adequate” overall level of spending and education, often in reliance on general phrases in state constitutions. Plaintiffs are winning most of the cases despite the constitutional argument that tax-and-spend decisions are solely a legislative prerogative.
By Ron on August 1st, 2009 at 6:43 am
A court-appointed panel in a New York lawsuit found in late November of 2004 that an additional $5.6 billion must be spent on New York City’s schoolchildren every year to provide the opportunity for a sound, basic education that they are guaranteed by the state constitution. In addition, $9.2 billion worth of new classrooms, laboratories, libraries and other facilities are needed to relieve overcrowding, reduce class sizes and provide adequate places for learning. The judge overseeing the case is expected to draw heavily from the panel’s findings. (New York Times, 12-1-04) Tax increases on New Yorkers have faced are mind boggeling.
By Ron on August 1st, 2009 at 6:49 am
In a separate development concerning Texas school funding litigation, a study by Harvard economist Caroline M. Hoxby has concluded that a 10-year attempt by education finance lawyers to reduce per-pupil spending disparities in Texas schools by means of a so-called “Robin Hood” scheme has produced a smaller spending gap but also resulted in the destruction of an estimated $81 billion worth of property wealth.
The soon-to-be-abandoned Texas program involved the forced redistribution of about $30 billion annually in school property taxes, taking from so-called “property-rich” districts and giving to “property-poor” districts. Hoxby’s analysis shows the plan did not succeed in equalizing per-pupil spending throughout Texas, although it did reduce the gap between the highest-spending quartile and the lowest-spending quartile from about $2,000 to $1,500 per pupil.
That $500 reduction was achieved at a cost of $27,000 per pupil in property value destruction across the state. This destruction resulted from increased property taxes in the wealthier districts, which depressed real estate values, leading inevitably to additional tax increases (and further declines in real estate values) as revenues fell short of projections.
By BIN News Editorial Staff on August 1st, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Ron speaks with voucher clown mouth. And he cuts and pastes from voucher clown rhetoric. He’s probably passing the SCRG crack pipe with Reality Check right now. Besides, this is SC. Not NY. Not Texas.
Come on Ron. If you’re saying school districts “across SC…routinely and fraudently (sic) misrepresent their revenues and spending” then you should put your SCRG crack pipe where your allegations are.
Our Funding Editor has authorized us to tell you she double dog voucher scam dares you to prove it. Because you can’t
Because it’s not true. It’s just more of Howie’s voucher scam rhetoric.
Vouchers are dead in SC. Double dog dead. Jakie said so! Tell Howie.
BTW. The word is “fraudulently.”
BIN News Editorial Staff
Flair and Balanced
By Maytag on August 2nd, 2009 at 10:51 am
Its stuff like this that makes me glad I’m a cat.
By BIN News Editorial Staff on August 2nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Meow.
By dirtbogger on August 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 am
I agree with liberty for me 100%!
By sick of it all on August 7th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Someone please send the Calvary up here! Between our former solicitor, school district, Representative Vick, and some police dept. thug, I mean officers, and “If it’s brown it’s down” bumper stickers (and mentalities), we don’t stand a chance!
By SpillinIt on September 24th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Havent heard anything about the cheraw scandals lately…wondering if the BIG DOGS of CPD put a hush to it. Found something really interesting…Last years CPD Xmas party pics. A boozefest it was, on tax payer money?