BOWMAN -- New names are still pending for North Elementary and the Bowman schools.

The Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 trustees declined to give final and third reading approval to the recommendations from the ad hoc Naming of Facilities Committee during a board meeting Tuesday night at Bowman Middle/High School.

At a work session in August, the board of trustees unanimously gave second reading to a motion to rename North Elementary the Harry K. Dowdy Sr. Elementary School in recognition of the former longtime principal in North. The other part of that motion was to rename Bowman Elementary and Bowman Middle/High as Bethune-Bowman Elementary and Bethune-Bowman Middle/High when they are consolidated into a single, new facility.

African-Americans in Bowman attended Bethune Memorial High before the schools were integrated. It was named in recognition of prominent educator Mary McLeod Bethune.

Several North residents were present at the meeting to express concern over renaming North Elementary School, whose name many of them said should be retained to avoid confusing children and to promote unity among all community members.

"I have heard your concerns. There are always two sides to any story," Crum said, before stating that another group had expressed concern about the renaming of the schools. He then proposed that the issue be referred back to the Naming of Facilities Committee to be reexamined in order to come up with an alternative that's satisfactory to both groups.

The board unanimously agreed to the motion following Trustee Susan Gleaton's question as to whether or not committee members should first be asked if they even wanted to meet again.

Crum said the committee had not been dismantled, with all of them still very active members.

One segment of the North community wanted North Elementary School renamed Dover Elementary to restore a historically significant name to the community. Dover was the name of the African-American high school before integration.

They also asked that the school's gymnasium -- the only building dating back to Dowdy's time with the school -- be named in memory of Dowdy.

Another segment of the North community petitioned to keep the current name, pointing out that district policy states that in naming facilities, "where feasible, names should denote location."

North Mayor Bruce Buckheister came to the meeting with 27 signatures and nine letters to add to the existing 210 written requests to retain the elementary school's name.

He said that the North Town Council expressed unanimous support for retaining the name and that the district would not be following policy in renaming an already existing building.

North Town Councilwoman Harriet Lane said she has yet to contact a person who supports renaming the school, saying it was best for students and the community to have the name retained.

North resident Bill Addison, the father of two sons at North Elementary, agreed. He said having grown up in a small town, "it seems fitting that we should retain that type of name."

Tina Martin, president of the school's Parent-Teacher-Student Association and the mother of two students, said the name evokes a sense of community pride among students.

"North encompasses everybody and not just one person," Martin said.

In other business, Donnie Boland, assistant superintendent for financial services, reported that the district received a considerably lower amount of Education Finance Act funding from the state. The district budgeted $12,505,273, but only received eight percent of that amount at $1,034,768.

"You've probably heard that the Budget and Control Board met and sequestered one percent of the state allocation. That hasn't been quantified by the state department yet, but in regards to how that impacts the school district, I estimate that it will probably be in the neighborhood of a reduction of $150,000 to $170,000," Boland said.

He said the money was sequestered because the state is trying to cover its prior year multi-million dollar deficit. He said the state could have sequestered more than that, resulting in even more losses.

"One way or the other, we're going to certainly lose money," Boland said. He addressed Crum, who asked what the district could do outside of dipping into the district's reserve fund again and raising taxes, which Crum said was "out of the question."

Boland said the district would have to reduce spending and begin saving general fund money early in the year. He said 20 percent of the general fund alone was used to put together the district's 2003-04 budget. The district is receiving the full Base Student Cost of $1,777 approved by the Legislature and "any reduction in that is going to impact our budget," Boland said.

Also in his July financial report, Boland said the district did not receive any local tax revenue or county board revenue for the month of July, with the adjustment associated with that to be made as part of the district's year-end audit process.

The district's operations account recorded $2,165, with a recorded special interest account totaling $35,559. For the month of July, the district also recorded $439,905 for bus drivers' salaries, fringe benefits, insurance and retiree insurance.

The district recorded a general fund revenue of $1,630,330 and expenditures of $1,513,978, leaving a positive balance of $116,352. Boland said the finance office should have the year-end audit report ready by the board's December meeting.

In other business, OCSD5 Superintendent Melvin Smoak reported the following items:

-- The repair of leaks at Bowman Middle/High School and the repair of the Ellis Building roof.

-- Pupil-teacher ratios among classes in all elementary schools "was still in the teens" in spite of teacher reductions. He said a district-wide enrollment report by school and grade was forthcoming.

-- A new teachers' reception is planned for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, prior to the start of the board's meeting.

"We'd like them to really get to know you. Everything else is going fine. It's really been a great start, and we're continuing to fine-tune ... at this point," Smoak said.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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