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A breakdown of how the School District of Oconee County receives its funding. The school district is ranked among the ninth wealthiest among counties ability to pay, which impacts the amount of money it receives from the state. Oconee is the ninth wealthiest in the state but ranked among the lowest in millage rates.

Those who attend school board meetings have undoubtedly heard the question posed on more than one occasion: “Why are school districts spending so much money?”

After all, schools didn’t spend as much 50, 40 or even 30 years ago when they attended and wonder why that is now the case.

One of the areas that first come to mind is a supposed increase in the number of district office administrators. But Oconee County District Superintendent Mike Lucas said that’s not true.

“Administrators at the district level have not gone up,” he said. “Over the last five years, they have dropped from 18 to 17.”

The facts back Lucas up, as data obtained from In$ite show Oconee County ranks 40th among 85 school districts statewide when it comes to the percentage of school and district leadership (8.88, compared to Bamberg 2, ranked first, with 15.29 percent). Pickens County ranked 74th, with a leadership percentage of 7.51.

But school expenditures have gone up. Over a six-year period, total expenditures in the School District of Oconee County rose from $93,740,613 in 2002 to $129,815,262 in 2007 while the School District of Pickens County saw its expenditures increase from $81,002,903 in 2003 to $94,407,990 in 2007.

While inflation is a significant factor, Lucas and other education officials say there are plenty of other reasons. Increases in teacher salaries and fringe benefits — necessary to bring school districts to competitive levels among competing districts; smaller class sizes that, as a result, require additional teachers; and the transition from half-day to full-day kindergarten, adding 3K and 4K to the 5K program, are just a few examples.

“When I first began teaching 31 years ago, we had 30 students in a class,” said Lucas of the transition from larger to smaller class sizes. “Now, however, the maximum number of students in kindergarten, fourth- and fifth-grades are 26 and 23 for first- through third-grades.”

But those ratios can change when schools fall under the federal Title I program. Blue Ridge Elementary, Westminster Elementary and James M. Brown Elementary are three such schools in Oconee County and at least one classroom has a pupil-teacher ratio of 13 to 1. All Title I schools must adhere to federal guidelines and, though they receive federal funding, must subsidize areas not covered by those funds.

Staffing standards at the middle school are one teacher for every 19 students and one for every 20 at the high school level.

Brenda Turner, assistant superintendent of Instructional Services for the School District of Pickens County, said the Education and Economic Development Act of 2005 is a state mandate that has been placed upon all middle and high schools.

“That act called for Career Development Facilitators to be placed in the middle schools and high schools,” Turner said. “The state provides a minimum allocation of one per school.”

Lucas said the state reimburses Oconee County $40,000 for its Career Development Facilitators, but adds that the district must make up the remaining costs for benefits, including retirement. He added that the school district offers 10 career clusters, compared to the three required by South Carolina, to provide more opportunities for career and technical classes for students. For example, students at Seneca High School who wish to take agriculture can go to West-Oak High School or Walhalla High School as long as they provide their own travel.

Over time, Turner said allocations in the School District of Pickens County have increased to offset other mandates that include the following: elementary school nurses; an increase in the number of minutes elementary students are provided physical activity; and a requirement by the Education Accountability Act of 1998 for districts to provide Formative Assessment to all students in grades 1-9 in English/Language Arts and math.

Missy Campbell, executive director of financial services for the School District of Pickens County, said there are other factors in school expenditure increases. Not only does employer health insurance and retirement continue to rise, but so do mandated salary increases for teachers based on state legislature decisions regarding cost-of-living adjustments and STEP.

“Utilities also increase regardless of student population,” Campbell said.

Sometimes, school districts provide funding even when the state doesn’t mandate them to do so. For example, Lucas said the Oconee County School Board of Trustees approved $100,000 to keep the Family Literacy program operational and help more people earn their GEDs.

Construction and renovation projects, such as those taking place in Oconee and Pickens counties, are also costly, but necessary, expenditures. Recent school construction in Oconee County has included West-Oak Middle School, which opened in 2007 and Blue Ridge Elementary School in August of this year.

“There was a consensus decision by the board to get our buildings where they needed to be, including construction of the new Blue Ridge Elementary School,” said Michael Thorsland, assistant superintendent for operational services. “When the board agreed to close Kellett and Code (to build Blue Ridge), they went from 19 to 31 mills, which is in the ballpark with other districts.”

But district officials say the new Blue Ridge Elementary School will save the district between $400,000 to $500,000 since there is now one school, one principal, one assistant principal and one media specialist.

Lucas said the school board has directed the district to “not raise taxes” with additions planned at Seneca High School and West-Oak High School next year and, in the future, for renovations at Tamassee-Salem Middle and High School and the construction of a new Walhalla High School. Pickens County is in the midst of a $365 million building program that includes construction of four new high schools and a new career and technology center over the next several years.

Next: Lucas explains how Oconee County taxpayers are getting the biggest bang for their buck when it comes to the school district.

greg@dailyjm.com | (864) 882-2375