Students at a Timmonsville school.
In April, Florence School District Four, which governs Timmonsville schools, hired Glen Stiegman to study their financial records.
Stiegman is a retired 30-year veteran of school district finance.
He says district administrators and board members were disappointed to learn the senate sustained a veto of a bill by Governor Nikki Haley that would have financially bailed out the district, which owes the state and federal governments $800,000 to pay bills.
In March, Timmonsville school board members cut 19 positions, including principals. That move is said to have saved the district at least $1.3 million.
Stiegman says as of now the district's net worth is a negative $1.3 million.
He tells NewsChannel 15 the district has spent about $2 million more than it has taken in over the past four years, in addition to state budget cuts since 2007.
Stiegman says is wasn't a matter of misspending or misappropriations of funds, but says district officials were not wise in their spending and should have made budget reductions and cuts four years ago.
He says district officials have operated with a deficit for four years and now they're technically broke. As a result of losing the $800,000, Steigman will recommend to board members that they make drastic cuts, ones that will have to help save between $300,000 to $400,000 and that will include more positions being eliminated.
Steigman adds that the district is operating on a month-to-month basis, collecting about $350,000 in state, local and federal funding. He says they're able to make payroll through money is coming in from local taxes through the town of Timmonsville, the SC Education Finance Act, SC Education Improvement Act and special revenue funds from the state and federal government.
Stiegman points out that they have outstanding balances with several vendors and that they're behind about $500,000 in payments for employee retirement and health insurance premiums to the SC Budget and Control Board.
The board is allowing them to work out a payment plan for the time being, but Steigman admits that he's not sure how much longer that will last.
The Timmonsville school board will meet next Tuesday for a public forum at 6:00 p.m. and the board meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Stiegman says the board may choose to pass the budget as it, but revise it with the necessary cuts in July.
Education is often considered one of the most, if not the most, important areas of government spending. Do you think the state or federal government should be responsible with helping the school district with their bills?
