By Betsy Finklea
One man does not control the Dillon County School System—that is just one of the points that Dillon Board of Education Chairman Richard Schafer stressed in a recent interview with The Dillon Herald.
The Dillon County School System is governed by the Dillon County Board of Education, a nine-member board comprised of members from all three areas where schools are located. Dillon has four members. Latta has three members, and Lake View has two members.
The members of the Dillon County Board of Education include: Dillon Members—Chairman Richard Schafer, Sylvia Griffin, Robert Abson, and Tim Faulk; Latta Members–Nancy G. Finklea, James Calvin McRae, and Carl Altman; and Lake View Members—John Best and Jimmy Sweat.
The members of the Dillon County Board of Education are appointed by the Governor of South Carolina. She can appoint anyone who she wants to the board, but the four members of the delegation—Rep. Jackie Hayes, Rep. Wayne George, Sen. Kent Williams, and Sen. Greg Hembree—can recommend appointments. They can also give advice to the governor on renewing or not renewing board member terms as can any citizen who is interested in doing so.
Board members are required to be citizens of the United States, have their physical primary domicile in Dillon County, and be able to pass a SLED and financial background check. Board members serve three year terms, and the terms of the members of the board are staggered.
The board meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 9:30 a.m. on the third floor of the Dillon City-County Complex located at 401 West Main Street, Dillon. These meetings are open to the public. Schafer said the meeting is held in the daytime so that the accounting departments, business managers, lawyers, etc. will be available.
The Dillon County Board of Education operates independently of the delegation and is an independent governmental agency.
The Dillon County Board of Education is not the only appointed school board in the state, Schafer said. The State School Board is appointed. Two other districts in Anderson and Clarendon are appointed. Nearby Marion County elects its county board, but appoints the local boards.
The Dillon County Board of Education is not obligated legally or otherwise to do anything that the delegation wishes it to do. The delegation has no control over the nine members. The County Board elects its own officers. The current officers are Chairman-Richard Schafer, Vice-Chairman-James Calvin McRae, and Secretary-Nancy G. Finklea. Officers are elected once a year in June and serve one-year terms.
The Dillon County Board of Education handles the total financial being of all of the school systems. They approve the budgets and oversee the finances. The county delegation controls the budget in the respect that they ask the legislature for the millage that supports the school systems. ACT 135 limits what the delegation can ask for because it caps millage and tax increases. It limits the delegation to cost of living increases.
Certified auditors audit the school funds of the county board and all three school districts each year. These audits are public information and are available for review at the County Board of Education Office. Financial information is also available to the public online through the school district websites.
The board requires the districts to present them with mid-year updates on the budgets and the yearly audit reports. Each district has a business manager.
Dillon County Board of Education members have access to all of the financial information and total access to all records, said Schafer, who reminds board members of this at every meeting.
The Dillon County Board of Education is also directly responsible for the operation of the Dillon County Applied Technology Center.
They are responsible for the board’s three employees—the attendance supervisor position (currently held by Lisa Bethea), the accountant position (currently held by Vickie Thompson), and the Business Manager’s position (currently held by Doug Broome). These are the only employees that the Dillon County Board of Education employs.
County Board of Education members are not employees. They are board members. County Board of Education members receive no state or county benefits and no insurance. They do receive a per diem for the meeting because it is a business meeting that they are required to attend, and they receive a 1099 form to file with their taxes each year. Schafer refuses the per diem and pays for his own travel expenses when attending to school board business.
In a recent complaint made by a former board member of the Dillon County Board of Education, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a notice on November 26, 2013 closing the file with the reason stated as being “no employer-employee relationship.” This was reaffirmed a second time in another ruling.
The Dillon County Board of Education appoints the two local boards in Dillon District Three (Latta) and Dillon District Four (Dillon).
The Dillon District Three Board (Latta) has seven members who are chosen at large. These members are: Chair Betty Jo Johnson, Vice-Chair Edward Bethea, Secretary Kyle Berry, Janice Boatwright, Linda James, Dr. Kenneth Kitts, and Eddie Watson. This board meets on the second Tuesday of the month at the district office at 205 King Street in Latta unless otherwise announced. The meetings are open to the public.
The Dillon District Four Board has seven members—five are from Dillon and two are from Lake View. The members are: Chairman Fitzgerald Lytch, Vice-Chairman Ethel Taylor, Alex Lewis, Mike McRae, Burt Rogers, all of Dillon, and Kenneth Bethea and Earl Gleason, Jr. of Lake View. This board meets on the third Monday of the month (except July) at the district office located at 405 West Washington Street in Dillon. The meetings are open to the public.
These board members are appointed for three year terms. They are accountable to the Dillon County Board of Education, and the Dillon County Board of Education is the only one who can unappoint them unless a legal problem arises and then the governor an unappoint them.
The superintendents do not work for the Dillon County Board of Education. They are selected, hired by, and are employed by the local boards.
The superintendents employ the staff who operate the schools. The superintendents recommend the staff members to their respective boards who then approve or disapprove their employment. In Dillon District Four, this includes Coach Jackie Hayes, who is also a member of the delegation. Schafer pointed out that Hayes as a member of the delegation has no control over the Dillon County Board of Education or Dillon District Four Superintendent Ray Rogers. The individual school districts are in charge of their own employees. There are approximately 800 school employees in the county schools.
Schafer said the very nature of the set-up would not allow one man to be in control. Everyone has input.
Schafer said that he has never had any of the delegation members call and request anything. The delegation members do not attend the meetings. Rep. Hayes was asked to attend a meeting when the school building projects were being initiated, and Schafer said his input and help at the state level when needed has been instrumental. Schafer said the board has never had any intrusion by any member of the delegation.
Schafer pointed out that no millage increase is funding the building program. The building program is being funded by sales tax revenue. This funding can only be used for brick and mortar—not for programs in the schools. The loans can only be used for brick and mortar and capital assets. Phase One of the projects has already been completed. Phase Two is underway, and school officials are already working on Phase Three as they work on how to fund this final phase.
Schafer said he will not comment on pending legal matters or ongoing lawsuits as this would not be appropriate.
As for reports in other media that the South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA) believes that some conflict of interest exists in Dillon County in regards to the appointment of board members, Debbie Elmore of the SCSBA sent an e-mail to the Dillon County Board of Education saying that the SCSBA was “falsely quoted” and that SCSBA “was portrayed incorrectly on this issue.” Elmore states, “…We want to assure you that we in no way have been or will be involved in telling local school districts how to select school board members.” According to Elmore’s e-mail, the SCSBA’s statewide position that pertains to the statewide issue (not Dillon County only), voted on by SCSBA members, is that they support locally elected, non-partisan school boards, but she says she never stated or led anyone to believe that SCSBA “believes appointed school boards could create some conflicts of interest” and specifically stated that this “is a question you would have to ask the residents of Dillon County.” She said she never stated that SCSBA has “been pushing Dillon’s delegation to give up its power for decades.”
As far as the school system goes, things are looking up and improvements continue to be made. In addition to the nearly $60 million in school improvement projects, several schools received Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards (Gold-Dillon High School, Latta High School, Lake View Elementary School; Silver-Latta Middle School); Dillon High School graduation rates have risen dramatically; Lake View students won the academic challenge state title; Latta High School received a bronze rating in the U.S. News and World Reports Best High School Report; and many more academic achievements could be listed. Athletically, Dillon High School won the state football championship, and the Latta High School girls won a state basketball championship. Great strides are being made in all districts.
Schafer said that the operations of the school board are open for public scrutiny and review. All operations are above board and have numerous checks and balances.
