Pricing our schoolsSuperintendent looks at closing, consolidating as way to ease spending By Diette Courrégé (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Wade Spees "I want to make sure my classroom is a place of enchantment," said Su Wood. The 31-year veteran teacher was getting ready for her seventh-grade math students Wednesday at McClellanville Middle School. 
Wade Spees Teachers new to Cario Middle School attend an orientation session Wednesday. With about 1,200 students, the Mount Pleasant school has about as many new teachers this year as McClellanville Middle School has total. It costs $5,023 per student to run Cario Middle in Mount Pleasant, a school that enrolls about 1,200 students. Less than 30 miles up the road at rural McClellanville Middle, it costs about four times that much, or $20,362 per student. The school enrolls about 110 children. Those two schools represent the highest and lowest amount of money Charleston County School District shelled out per pupil in the 2006-2007 school year, the latest data available. The per-pupil cost could become a critical figure this year. The school board asked the superintendent to make recommendations on ways to improve spending, specifically suggesting closing or consolidating schools. Schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley has said those decisions would be tied to per-pupil costs. She is expected within a month to give the board strategy on how to address the issue. The amounts included in the per-pupil expenditures for Cario and McClellanville Middle include all funds spent by the district except debt service or capital project money, which mostly pays for new buildings or renovations. The district's average per-pupil expenditure was $8,015, and slightly more than half of the district's schools have higher per-pupil costs than that. In Charleston, most schools with smaller student populations, such as those downtown and in rural areas, top the list of most expensive schools per student. Of the top four schools with the highest per-pupil expenditure, three were in the same community: Lincoln High, McClellanville Middle and St. James-Santee Elementary. McGinley hasn't given any indication of what schools she's looking to target, but she has said she's looking at some "creative" options, such as consolidating an elementary, middle and high school into a K-12 campus, and other models of offering a more effective program. The board ultimately will decide whether to close or consolidate schools. "That will be a very emotional issue because no one wants their school to be closed, even if we propose changes that could ultimately create a better educational environment," she said in a recent interview. Shirley Collenton grew up in the McClellanville community, and her oldest daughter graduated from Lincoln High in 2007. Her younger daughter is entering the eighth grade at McClellanville Middle. She doesn't think it would be a good idea to combine the elementary, middle and high schools on one campus, nor does she want the school district to shut down one of the area's schools. She doesn't think a consolidated K-12 campus would work with the way society has changed, and children would have to travel far distances if one of the neighborhood schools was closed, she said. "We deserve to have our own schools in our own community," she said. The enrollment in the area's schools has dwindled because of parents transferring their children to other schools, and the school district should work to attract those families back to these schools instead of potentially closing them, she said. Mike Bobby, Charleston's chief financial officer, said the most critical factor affecting per-pupil cost is a school's size. Schools must have certain positions, such as a principal, guidance counselor and maintenance worker, he said. Those costs are spread out over the school's enrolled students, whether that's 1,200 children at Cario or 110 students at McClellanville, Bobby said. It's an economy of scale, he said. Chris Swetckie, the interim principal at McClellanville Middle who previously worked as an assistant principal at Cario Middle, compared it to a carpool. Regardless of how many people are in the car, you need a certain amount of gas and money per rider to pay the cost of driving to the destination, he said. The more people in the car, the more ways the gas cost is split. The same goes with schools. Rural schools tend to serve smaller communities, which means fewer people and more money per person, he said. There can be a point when a car, or a school, has too few or too many people; balance is key, he said. McClellanville Middle doesn't have bags of money lying around; it has the staff and building to educate students in a manner comparable to the rest of the county, Swetckie said. "With a smaller population, (the amount) looks larger," he said. The per-pupil cost at smaller schools also is inflated because of staff that are added to ensure equity in programs that are offered, Bobby said. McClellanville Middle, for example, offers the same core academic classes that Cario Middle does, whether it's an honors English class or algebra. The difference, Swetckie said, is that Cario offers some electives in fine arts or computer engineering that McClellanville doesn't. Other factors influencing per-pupil cost is a school's geographic proximity to other schools, which enables them to share staff, Bobby said. That becomes more difficult when schools are separated by longer distances, he said. Low-performing schools, such as schools rated below average or unsatisfactory on the state report card, receive additional money to help boost students' achievement, and high poverty schools also receive more money to help meet students' needs, Swetckie said. A more experienced staff, such as a group of teachers who have taught for 20 years and hold master's degrees, versus a relatively inexperienced staff made up of teachers with less than five years' experience and mostly bachelor's degrees, also will raise a per-pupil expenditure because the more experienced teachers cost more, he said. For those reasons, higher per-pupil expenditures don't necessarily mean a lower teacher-to-student ratio, Bobby said. Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 27 comment(s)
Posted by MyMcClellanville on August 17, 2008 at 7:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As a McClellanville resident, I'm just happy that school board is being fiscally responsible for once and that they're actually discussing a change of some sort. For too long McClellanville and Awendaw have just been ignored. they throw a new principal at them occasionally, but never address the change that needs to occur. The poor schools keep a lot of people from even considering moving to the area, despite it's natural and historic beauty.
In rural areas, you're always going to be bussing people, the argument that there will be more if there was one school instead of three makes no sense. If the schools were combined, St.James Santee makes the most sense for a centralized location as well as providing more room to grow. There may still be another school needed at some point north of the new Wando to handle the growing population north of 41 and in Awendaw.
Posted by karmann on August 17, 2008 at 7:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Consolidating schools makes sense, if it works and the academics and discipline can be handled. Some time ago, Chicora, Bonds-Wilson, and N. Charleston consolidated. The problem is that discipline has been a problem, and the academics has fallen. Maybe a school's ability to remain open should also be tied to their performance? If $20,000+ per student isn't getting the outcomes that it should be fetching, then something is definitely wrong. I don't care how much money is being spent per student, if that student is not academically prepared for the world, then a failure has occurred.
Posted by moonpie on August 17, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
$20,362 per student! Ask your self what return your getting on your money. Folks that's PG, Pinewood, BE type money if you sent your kids there. Look at your return on your money there. What percentage of these kids that is cost $20362 to educate actually graduate?
Posted by Paulie on August 17, 2008 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That's 20 thousand per child. Multiply that by how many children statewide that our (my) tax money is spending.
Since I have no children, and am living barely, and mostly not, pay check to paychck, I need a childless tax refund.
I'm disgusted and tired with throwing my money away on the black hole of SC politics.
Comments, ColdBeer ?
Posted by a_set_love on August 17, 2008 at 9:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why is it that Catholic schools can produce a better product, for a 'ell of a lot less than $20,000?
Posted by blah_blah_blah on August 17, 2008 at 9:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
moonpie,
valid point. But PG, Pinewood, BE, have whiney parents that offer a large "donation" to give their failing student a passing grade. I have seen it firsthand, so everything is not as it seems.
a_set_love,
because they scared the hell out of their students with their cultlike behaviors and rituals.
Posted by clisby on August 17, 2008 at 9:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
moonpie:
Actually, that's only P-G/Ashley Hall type money. According to the P-G website, high school tuition for 2008-2009 is $17,050. Ashley Hall is $17,493.
Pinewood Prep: $8900-$9400 for high-schoolers (11th-12 grade costs more than 9th-10th).
Bishop England: $6250 - $9120 (parishioners get it cheaper)
I realize there likely are fees besides tuition, and often in private schools, there's an expectation that parents will help with fundraising. Still, B-E and Pinewood are nowhere near as costly as some public schools.
Don't ask me why the reporter didn't include some of these comparisons.
But, heck - this is the same reporter who last year wrote this laughable lead:
"Montessori education is almost exclusively for students whose families are wealthy enough to send them to elite and expensive private schools."
Any time somebody refers to a private school as "expensive" in comparison to public schools, we all need to check our wallets and refer back to the handy little list accompanying today's P&C article. I'd love to see the figures for the entire county.
Posted by a_set_love on August 17, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The one thing the Charleston County School system has an over stock of is touchy feely Liberalism. The one thing they sorely need and criminally lack is respect for the teacher in the classroom.
The cure for this problem is "DISCIPLINE" in the classroom and the destruction of the Charleston County School System. They are not the solution, they are the problem.
Posted by a_set_love on August 17, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We need to allocate a set amount of money per student that follows them any where they go. Currently some schools receive better funding/treatment than others.
Posted by june on August 17, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Charleston county district should combine these schools. Look at the tax
payers money that could save toward reaping a better education,more qualify
teachers and fully equipped classrooms. Look at teachers that are begging for
more supplies and some pay from their pockets.
$20,plus per student at McClellanville should support prep school per year.
Busing kids and people back and forth is just a fact of life we all have to face
if you live out that far from city. I agree MC Clellanville is beautiful,if the resources are not there. what then happens to the area with schools.
Posted by captainphil on August 17, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hmmmm, Give me 8,000.00 per student, give me 10 students...I make 80 grand a year, the kids can buy their own books...I will have my own materials to teach...I will teach them at a county park, and those kids will LEARN, as long as the parents let me discipline them as I would and have my own children, children from a divorced family and a father teaching (oh yea, he makes ALOT, ha). It's so easy it's frustrating.
Posted by mkris on August 17, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ya cant get champagne in a beer joint. 20,000 per student vs 17,000 in private school. is not that bad. Private school gets to exclude children that it doesn't want. That includes special education, special needs and all the problem children a public school must educate.
The problem with charleston schools are three fold: no tax base, lack of education amoung a vast majority of the parents, and no interest by the parent(s).
But as I was told once, "why do plantation slaves need to read?"
Posted by iceman1978 on August 17, 2008 at 11:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Economies of scale will pretty much guarantee that smaller schools, particularly ones in remote areas are going to cost more per child to function. Still though, $20k sounds high.
Posted by STREETLAW on August 17, 2008 at 12:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What the press doesn't do is tell us what the average cost per student is by state compared to failure rates and standardize test scores. I would post that information but not enough room and you need graphs to really see how little dollars per student spent has to do with academic excellence. If you want to take that a step further, put in the number of minority students per state and then do the math.
What you will find is the states which have the highest minority student ratio also have the highest cost per student and the lowest test scores. And if you think that means minorities are less educatable you are dead wrong. It is because there is so much fraud, waste and abuse going on in these schools. The kids get caught in the middle of the race issue.
Spending of over $20,000 per student should prompt a thorough audit and perhaps an investigation by SLED. That we need better managers in our school system should be apparent to all.
Posted by MyMcClellanville on August 17, 2008 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Public schools are always going to be in a catch 22. When you have poor performance, parents who care about their kids education choose private schools or leave/don't move to the area, resulting in worse schools that consist of parents that don't care (that's a generalization, of course some parents do care). On the other hand, great schools attract wholesome families and smarter kids so performance goes higher and higher as the property values and neighbors rise with the school's performance
Archibald Rutledge Academy is a K-12 (actually 1yo-12th grade, because they also provide daycare)in McClellanville. Yearly tuition is less than $4000 and they have much higher test scores and graduation rates than public school. It is possible through fiscal responsibility, something that almost no government agency seems to manage. One way they are able to keep costs low is by requiring parents to work at fund raisers like the local Shrimp Festival and Fishing Tournament. How about making parents of public school kids get off their....nevermind
Posted by carolinadude on August 17, 2008 at 3:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What does YOUR district spend per child?
August 4, 2008 • 2 Comments
These figures are from the 2008-09 South Carolina General Appropriations Bill. Each district receives money from local, state and federal sources but these appropriations exclude local bond revenues.
The statewide average for 2008-09 is:
$4,867 state, $1,097 federal, and $5,516 local = $11,480 per pupil
According to the SC Budget and Control Board’s analysis, only 44 cents per allocated dollar will reach the classroom in the form of instructional spending.
The US Department of Education estimates that South Carolina’s per-pupil spending was $1,300 more than North Carolina’s in 2006, the most recent year with complete data.
Here are the 2008-09 per-pupil averages for each of the South Carolina school districts (number of students in parenthesis):
Abbeville School District (3,366)
$5,948 state, $1,174 federal, and $3,561 local = $10,684
Aiken School District (23,689)
$4,790 state, $729 federal, and $3,802 local = $9,320
Allendale School District (1,511)
$11,049 state, $1,889 federal, and $4,912 local = $17,850
Anderson School District 1 (9,013)
$4,466 state, $532 federal, and $3,661 local = $8,659
Anderson School District 2 (3,664)
5,378 state, $762 federal, and $4,357 local = $10,497
Anderson School District 3 (2,643)
$5,474 state, $1,526 federal, and $3,851 local = $10,851
Anderson School District 4 (2,753)
$4,564 state, $1,083 federal, and $6,718 local = $12,365
Anderson School District 5 (12,286)
$4,965 state, $1,010 federal, and $5,046 local = $11,021
Bamberg School District 1 (1,449)
$6,139 state, $1,958 federal, and $3,628 local = $11,725
Bamberg School District 2 (832)
$8,608 state, $1,509 federal, and $5,443 local = $15,560
Barnwell School District 19 (821)
$6,737 state, $2,121 federal, and $4,146 local = $13,003
Barnwell School District 29 (843)
$6,538 state, $1,672 federal, and $3,983 local = $12,193
Barnwell School District 45 (2,440)
$6,026 state, $830 federal, and $3,078 local = $9,935
Beaufort School District (18,905)
$2,389 state, $977 federal, and $10,765 local = $14,131
Berkeley School District (27,451)
$4,635 state, $721 federal, and $5,927 local = $11,283
Posted by carolinadude on August 17, 2008 at 3:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Calhoun School District (1,522)
$6,324 state, $1,059 federal, and $7,155 local = $14,538
Charleston School District (39,745)
$3,609 state, $1,328 federal, and $4,888 local = $9,824
Cherokee School District (9,027)
$5,157 state, $1,280 federal, and $6,749 local = $13,186
Chester School District total (5,665)
$5,549 state, $1,719 federal, and $4,029 local = $11,297
Chesterfield School District (7,770)
$5,604 state, $797 federal, and $3,268 local = $9,669
Clarendon School District 1 (851)
$6,857 state, $4,749 federal, and $6,475 local = $18,081
Clarendon School District 2 (2,992)
$5,597 state, $1,761 federal, and $3,461 local = $10,819
Clarendon School District 3 (1,231)
$5,535 state, $755 federal, and $3,353 local = $9,643
Colleton School District (5,965)
$5,150 state, $1,723 federal, and $3,286 local = $10,159
Darlington School District (10,824)
$5,384 state, $1,378 federal, and $5,193 local = $11,955
Dillon School District 1 (908)
$5,031 state, $1,031 federal, and $1,851 local = $7,913
Dillon School District 2 (3,321)
$5,704 state, $1,183 federal, and $1,736 local = $8,624
Dillon School District 3 (1,573)
$5,078 state, $1,430 federal, and $2,162 local = $8,670
Dorchester School District 2 (21,650)
$4,386 state, $462 federal, and $3,830 local = $8,679
Dorchester School District 4 (2,158)
$5,950 state, $1,974 federal, and $7,428 local = $15,352
Edgefield School District (3,929)
$5,578 state, $867 federal, and $3,613 local = $10,057
Fairfield School District (3,183)
$5,256 state, $1,080 federal, and $7,775 local = $14,112
Florence School District 1 (14,860)
$4,790 state, $1,765 federal, and $5,032 local = $11,587
Florence School District 2 (1,092)
$5,908 state, $1,020 federal, and $4,248 local = $11,177
Florence School District 3 (3,558)
5,760 state, $2,357 federal, and $2,869 local = $10,987
Florence School District 4 (858)
$8,035 state, $2,010 federal, and $5,844 local = $15,888
Florence School District 5 (1,486)
$5,620 state, $736 federal, and $3,914 local = $10,270
Georgetown School District (10,124)
$4,145 state, $1,004 federal, and $6,241 local = $11,390
Greenville School District (69,188)
$4,462 state, $664 federal, and $5,273 local = $10,399
Greenwood School District 50 (8,849)
$5,153 state, $1,007 federal, and $5,666 local = $11,825
Greenwood School District 51 (1,041)
$6,348 state, $1,224 federal, and $4,615 local = $12,188
Greenwood School District 52 (1,566)
$3,422 state, $809 federal, and $6,706 local = $10,937
Hampton School District 1 (2,688)
$5,707 state, $1,252 federal, and $2,944 local = $9,903
Hampton School District 2 (1,103)
$8,369 state, $1,644 federal, and $4,235 local = $14,248
Horry School District (36,514)
$3,858 state, $1,347 federal, and $7,606 local = $12,811
Posted by carolinadude on August 17, 2008 at 3:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jasper School District (3,099)
$5,199 state, $1,921 federal, and $10,636 local = $17,756
Kershaw School District (10,360)
$5,116 state, $775 federal, and $3,835 local = $9,727
Lancaster School District (11,461)
$5,094 state, $1,180 federal, and $4,071 local = $10,345
Laurens School District 55 (5,601)
$5,513 state, $1,088 federal, and $3,807 local = $10,409
Laurens School District 56 (3,182)
$5,706 state, $2,207 federal, and $3,143 local = $11,056
Lee School District (2,326)
$7,455 state, $1,834 federal, and $4,304 local = $13,593
Lexington School District 1 (21,134)
$4,951 state, $691 federal, and $6,628 local = $12,270
Lexington School District 2 (8,884)
$5,195 state, $3,351 federal, and $4,417 local = $12,963
Lexington School District 3 (1,920)
$6,108 state, $1,335 federal, and $6,372 local = $13,815
Lexington School District 4 (3,204)
$6,773 state, $2,632 federal, and $3,750 local = $13,155
Lexington School District 5 (16,582)
$5,294 state, $709 federal, and $6,597 local = $12,600
Marion School District 1 (2,860)
$5,490 state, $1,558 federal, and $2,789 local = $9,836
Marion School District 2 (1,822)
$5,683 state, $2,011 federal, and $2,750 local = $10,443
Marion School District 7 (679)
$8,964 state, $2,614 federal, and $3,184 local = $14,761
Marlboro School District (4,457)
$6,248 state, $2,017 federal, and $3,371 local = $11,636
McCormick School District (881)
$5,954 state, $776 federal, and $8,728 local = $15,458
Newberry School District (5,769)
$5,585 state, $1,257 federal, and $5,723 local = $12,565
Oconee School District (10,501)
$4,465 state, $973 federal, and $8,047 local = $13,484
Orangeburg School District 3 (3,014)
$6,098 state, $1,495 federal, and $7,336 local = $14,929
Orangeburg School District 4 (4,022)
$5,512 state, $1,759 federal, and $5,092 local = $12,363
Orangeburg School District 5 (6,302)
$6,162 state, $1,882 federal, and $5,919 local = $13,962
Pickens School District (16,234)
$4,756 state, $1,117 federal, and $4,073 local = $9,947
Posted by carolinadude on August 17, 2008 at 3:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Notice that the above per district spending from federal state and local does not include debt. The debt load that some of these districts are carrying is astronomical taking the average per pupil expenditure across SC from just over 8k to between 11-12k based on the last report that i heard which was a couple of years ago. Check out the per pupil expenses for Berkeley County vs the other surrounding counties. THE BERKELEY SCHOOL BOARD HAS FISCAL AUTONOMY WITH NO OVERSIGHT FROM COUNTY COUNCIL
Posted by Riptide on August 17, 2008 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
and all this time I thought it was a classroom, a teacher and some books.
Posted by commonsence on August 17, 2008 at 7:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Closing schools is just the tip of the iceberg...CCSD is afraid that if they close a school and keep it in their inventory, the various charter school groups will want to use the buildings. So before any closings are mentioned, you can be sure that there will be a buyer for the building already lined up to prevent another charter school from coming online.
Posted by STREETLAW on August 17, 2008 at 7:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Obama's mantra "Stand for Change" anagrams to "Fat, grand, chosen".
And you can bet the grand chosen ones will get fat if he wins.
It will be like carpet bagging on steroids.
Posted by AAE on August 17, 2008 at 8 p.m. (Suggest removal)
McClellanville knows it's coming, but watch out Edisto and Johns. Your next.
Posted by WestAshleyMomma on August 17, 2008 at 8:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There are at least 2 reason that Catholics schools do better than public schools, IMHO: - I'm paying for this education and by godd, my child will study and do well, and 2) DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE!!!! I went to BE and my father signed a permission slip for me to be "disciplined" at school. No questions asked! So, if I missbehaved, I knew I wouldn't get any sympathy from him. When I sent my son to BE, there was no permission slip, but I told him they had rules and he had to obey them!!! No questions asked. My sister sent her son to pupblic school and he was in trouble all the time. He quit before he graduated. I guess you get what you pay for, or not pay for?!?!?!?!?!?
Posted by charlestonpride on August 18, 2008 at 3:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Your sister sounds like the one at fault, not the school system. Discipline starts at home.
Posted by abitskeptical on August 18, 2008 at 8:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I will ditto eyfig's post & add that w/in most public schools (middle & high school level)there are options for the "motivated" students. When the student is lacking his/her own motivation...thats when parental involvement is vital! :)
Honors & AP classes are available for those students who do not want to settle for just getting by.
Personally, I believe most kids could do honors work if they put their mind to it. Some might struggle a bit to get a C or a B, but they'd have a stronger education than taking all easy courses & gliding through school.
I believe the worst thing that could have happened was offering "Tech" classes as it sells a large group of kids short. Without that option they & their parents would have to step up to the plate.
I have repeatedly heard that the Tech courses are great for those who do not plan on going to college. My question is "Why"? If they are not going to school after high school then they should get the best education they can get while in school...not the worst & easiest. Also, what if the student changes his/her mind later & wants to seek a degree?
Unfortunately in many of the larger schools, even the regular CP classes are a joke. A serious minded student will have difficulty getting much out of a class as many in the "regular" classes are not serious about anything but creating distractions.
What is the difference between these groups of students? I must say that a large part of the difference is what is expected of them, by their parents as well as by their teachers.
Posted by clisby on August 21, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't have a problem with tech courses, but they shouldn't be a dumping ground for low-performing students. They should be a reward for students who want to follow that path and have proven their competence in the core academic areas. What good is an illiterate electrician or auto mechanic? How are the tech courses handled at Garrett? The school seems to be pretty successful.