Charleston County, S.C., School District Workers Must Reapply for Jobs.
By Seanna Adcox, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

May 27--Everyone working in Charleston County School District's budget and finance office must reapply for their jobs.

The notice came in the wake of a $61 million projected shortfall in the school building program.

The department upheaval is also part of Superintendent Maria Goodloe's larger reorganization of the district office, which takes effect when the 2004-05 school year starts July 1.

School board members began calling for pink slips last month after Goodloe revealed the projected shortfall. She blamed it largely on poor budgeting.

"I know that you all want someone to be held accountable for what's gone wrong, and that's not unreasonable," she told board members at a budget workshop last week. "However, it's just not that simple. Responsibility cannot be easily and singularly placed."

The district began interviewing for a permanent CFO last week. That person will "redesign the department and evaluate every single person as they reapply for their jobs," Goodloe said.

"I would like to think somebody's going home," board member Sandi Engelman said.

Larry Clark, the interim chief financial officer who was hired in January and discovered the shortfall, never planned to stay past this school year.

Employees in the financial office aren't the only ones needing to reapply for positions.

Goodloe has cut more than a dozen administrative positions. That doesn't mean people must leave. They can apply for principal positions or new administrative jobs. If not hired for available slots, they're promised a job as a teacher, though that would mean a pay cut.

For example, Goodloe eliminated the district's seven accountability specialists, assigned to constituent districts to improve test scores. But she created 10 similar jobs. The new curriculum specialists are supposed to spend more time in schools.

The application deadline for curriculum specialists was Friday. Interviews start today.

"This is exactly the way to go. I wish she'd done it sooner," said Jon Butzon, executive director of the Charleston Education Network. "Thank God. Let's do it and get on with it. Time's a wasting."

He said the current organizational structure isn't working.

"We have to have a different focus. If all we do is keep the same people and rotate them around, then it becomes rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," he said.

The changes mean uncertainty and fear for people in the district office.

"Some anxiety is natural. Whenever a job status changes, people become anxious," said Deputy Superintendent Marian Mentavlos. "We're trying to get the right people on the right seats on the bus."

Goodloe has retooled a number of positions, saving the school district almost $170,000 overall, but that's a small amount for a district proposing a $275 million budget for 2004-05.

The savings come mostly from hiring an in-house attorney, rather than continuing to pay by the hour. The salaries of other comparable positions are actually rising.

"I'm concerned about eliminating $85,000 jobs and creating $125,000 jobs. It's causing me heartburn," Engelman said. "I'm not opposed to doing the best thing to make our schools great, but I don't see these administrative positions doing that." Board member Hillery Douglas responded that "maybe we got what we paid for."

"We probably should've had not only a higher-paid person but better-qualified person in positions year ago, and we wouldn't be experiencing what we're experiencing now with budget problems," he said.

"We need to give the superintendent a chance to put in people she feels can do the job in the positions where they will work best ... so we can do what the public wants us to do most of all, which is pull schools up," Douglas said.

Goodloe fired Rodly Millet, executive director for both human resources and information technology, in November after discovering that 15 people, including him, got raises not approved by the school board. She demanded that recipients return the extra money received since July 1. Jerry Hartley, executive director of business services, resigned rather than return his portion.

Charleston County schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe cut 17 administrative positions from the district office, three of which were vacant. The 14 people now in the positions can apply for newly created positions or accept jobs as teachers.

Administrative positions cut:

--7 accountability specialists

--5 team associates

--1 professional development associate

--1 classified human resources officer

Previously frozen positions now cut:

--1 purchasing supervisor

--1 systems analyst

--1 teacher evaluation team associate

(c) 2004, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.


School board told district needs $47.6M over 5 years to stay fit
BY SEANNA ADCOX (The Post and Courier Staff, Charleston.net, May 11, 2004)

Charleston County School District needs $47.6 million over the next five years to keep its schools and buses in top shape, the district's maintenance director told board members Monday night.
"That's just to keep even with what we have," said Mark Cobb, executive director of facilities services.

Replacing the district's 7 million square feet of school buildings would cost about $840 million, he said.

He proposed the district set its maintenance budget at 1 percent of the district's replacement value, which will rise as new schools open. That would require $45.1 million over five years, ranging from $8.4 million next school year to $9.4 million in 2008-09.

The money would pay for various projects such as replacing roofs, windows and air conditioning systems, and for repaving school grounds and painting.

Standards call for school districts to spend between 1 and 2 percent of their replacement value on maintenance, Cobb said. He suggested the lower end, as long as the board approves a 2005-09 building package that includes replacing old elementary schools rather than renovating them.

Regular maintenance keeps schools healthy and saves the district money, since repairing systems costs less than replacing them, Cobb said. Schools that fall into disrepair also present a poor public image and lead to teacher turnover, he said.

Cobb recommended spending $2.5 million on 25 new activity buses, 10 regular school buses and one fuel tanker over five years. The amounts spent per year would range from $364,000 to $612,910.

His presentation was part of the district's 2005 to 2009 capital improvements program. The board will vote on a comprehensive plan this summer after hearing presentations on the various pieces.

Bill Lewis, the district's building program director, already presented the county's construction and furniture needs. He did not put a price tag on construction. But he said replacing all the schools' most dilapidated furniture, kitchen fixtures and equipment would cost about $28.4 million over the next five years.

Lewis proposed last month creating a 15-year replacement cycle for furniture, which would cost about $3.5 million annually. Replacing the oldest kitchen fixtures would cost $850,000 a year, while replacing the worst classroom equipment would cost $1.3 million annually, he said.

Future meetings will include presentations on the district's technology and security needs.