All 4 York County superintendents ask SC senators to adjust teacher raise proposal
The four school district superintendents in York County sent a joint letter to the South Carolina Senate on Tuesday afternoon that made two points clear:
The school districts are “fully supportive” of the “much deserved” proposed pay increases for public school teachers and other state employees found in the state’s new spending plan — but the districts need full funding support from the state to make those pay raises happen.
“We were excited to hear the Ways and Means Committee recognize the hard work and dedication of teachers across our state by proposing a pay increase as part of this year’s budget process,” reads the letter, which is signed by Kelly Coxe of York School District One, Chuck Epps of the Fort Mill School District, Sheila Quinn of the Clover School District and Tommy Schmolze of the Rock Hill School District.
“We believe this raise is much deserved and we are fully supportive of this increase as it will help alleviate some of our struggles with teacher retention we discussed in January.
“However, without full funding support from the state, the four York County school districts will not be able to provide the proposed pay increase.”
This letter is in direct response to a $13.9 billion budget proposal approved by S.C. House budget writers last month.
The proposed budget, which is now in the state senate, indicates that all state public school teachers would be paid at least $40,000 a year — a jump from the state’s $36,000 minimum salary. It also includes an effort to recruit and retain bus drivers by increasing their pay by 5%.
There are key stipulations in the proposal.
Among them: School districts that already pay teachers more than the proposed $40,000 minimum would not have to raise salaries. Also, the state will reportedly help the school districts pay for the mandated teacher raises — in some circumstances, the district would fund 25% of the pay increase, and the state would fund the other 75%.
But for the school districts in York County, the state contribution isn’t enough.
“We recognize the effort the General Assembly has put forth in decreasing the local responsibility of school districts from a funding split of 70/30 to a 75/25 model,” the joint letter reads, “but this proposed model means the four school districts in York County may have to consider other options such as reduced staff sizes, increased teacher student ratios or other cost saving options that could impact the quality education for which our districts are known.”
Specifically, the letter states that the districts will have to come up with the following funds to accommodate the mandated raise without full state support:
York School District One: $800,000
Clover School District: $3.4 million
Rock Hill Schools: $5 million
Fort Mill School District: $7 million
“This would disproportionately impact our local small business owners,” the letter states. “In some cases, the maximum increase on the consumer price index would not allow districts to generate enough revenue to fund the raise.”
The letter also states that the superintendents are “concerned the funding structure does not support fringe benefits including the 18.1% increase to the employer share of health insurance costs, anticipated growth in student populations, or pay increases for other personnel whose contributions are critical to school operations and student achievement.”
The superintendents acknowledged the state’s efforts to address the issue of teacher recruitment and retention in the letter. And that issue is a significant one: There were more than 1,000 teaching vacancies to start the year in S.C., according to a report by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement — and this problem could soon become insurmountable in school districts that grow by the hundreds of students each year.
The Clover School District saw 600 more students start the 2021-22 school year than it had in the 2020-21 school year, The Herald previously reported. Fort Mill is among the fastest growing school districts in the Southeast. YSD1, too, is expecting substantial growth by 2029-30.
“We urge the General Assembly to fully fund the pay increase for ALL teachers in South Carolina and support us in fully recognizing the inspiring work our schools are doing,” the letter states.
The four York County school districts are not the first to air concerns about the new state budget. By a unanimous vote, the Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees agreed to send a similar letter to S.C. lawmakers last week.
The York County superintendent letter is addressed to Greg Hembree, the Senate Education Committee Chair; Harvey Peeler, the Senate Finance Committee Chair; and the following state senators representing York County: Wes Climer (District 15), Michael Johnson (District 16) and Mike Fanning (District 17).
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 12:15 PM.
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