Governor Sanford Signs Sumter Consolidation Bill

Press Release

Governor Sanford Signs Sumter Consolidation Bill

GOVERNOR CITES BILL AS EXAMPLE OF NEED FOR MORE DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION ACROSS STATE

Governor Mark Sanford today signed S.639, a new law that will consolidate Sumter County's two school districts into one, a step toward spending more dollars in the classroom and fewer dollars on administration in that county.

Since taking office, Governor Sanford has called on the General Assembly to explore the idea of school district consolidation. In his State of the State address this year, the governor specifically called for the passage of Rep. Ken Kennedy's bill that would greatly reduce the number of school districts in South Carolina, and with it the administrative overlap and duplication that comes with having 85 school districts for 46 counties. In January of 2006, the state's School District Study Committee issued a report that concluded schools could realize a cost savings of more than $21.1 million by consolidating management functions that occur at the district and regional levels. A previous study found that as much as $26 million could be saved.

"I'd give real credit to the Sumter County legislative delegation, because I think this bill represents an example for more school districts in more counties to follow," Gov. Sanford said. "Many of the school district lines in our state are an unfortunate throwback to segregation-era South Carolina, and it's a system that's hurting our students from the standpoint of tying up dollars in administration rather than getting those dollars to the classroom."

Under the new law, the two current districts in Sumter County - Sumter 2 and Sumter 17 - would consolidate into a single district over the next three years. Districts 2 and 17 were created in 1951 when roughly 25 districts were consolidated into two. Once combined, the new district would be one of the 10 largest districts in the state.

Since 1950, the number of districts in South Carolina has declined from 1,220 to 85. But, over the past 20 years, school system consolidation in South Carolina has occurred only three times: Dorchester 1 and Dorchester 3 merged in 1987 to become Dorchester 4; eight Orangeburg County school systems were consolidated into three districts in 1997; and Marion 3 and Marion 4 merged in 2001 to become Marion 7. Despite the reduction in the number of school districts, there remains wide variation in district size, ranging from more than 66,000 in Greenville to only about 900 in Dillon 1.

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