BAMBERG – Unanimously approving a motion by Trustee Rita M. Sease, the Bamberg School District 1 Board agreed Monday night to rescind its offer to deed the recently closed Ehrhardt Elementary School to the Town of Ehrhardt.

The move followed a 30-minute executive session and a full agenda of topics ranging from an increased general operating millage to the certification of a new trustee.

Sease’s motion stipulated the board will now search for other options regarding the use of Ehrhardt Elementary, which was closed this year amid controversy, and provide an answer to the town council through the school board’s attorney.

Ehrhardt Town Council members, during their Sept. 16 meeting, indicated they weren’t happy with the proposed agreement with Bamberg School District 1.

Mayor Billy Stanley said the town had no problem with the district continuing to use the paved area at the school, but he said the council did not agree to the private/charter school use restriction. Stanley said the district’s response was to reiterate its original terms. He said he didn’t like the idea of handcuffing future mayors or town councils in terms of a charter school restriction, noting, however, there was little likelihood for a private school to be successful.

Councilman Bill Edinger expressed frustration over the situation at that meeting, saying, “It’s a shame somebody in Bamberg wants to deprive (children) in Ehrhardt from a good education.”

On Monday, Bamberg 1 School Board Chairman Dr. Dale Padgett said the district’s original offer was to allow the town to use the building and property as long as the structure did not house a private or charter school and that the school bus lot could still be used by the district.

“I can’t really remember how that was initiated,” Padgett said regarding the stipulation against using the school for a private or charter school. “I think the general idea was that it is the taxpayers’ school, not just for a particular group. I’m guessing here, but I think the reasoning was that it might take away from public education.”

Also during the meeting, Superintendent Phyllis Schwarting reported the Bamberg County Elections Commission will certify Gill Hackney on Oct. 9 as the new trustee to fill the vacant Ehrhardt seat formerly held by Sherri Seigler, who resigned last month. Hackney was the only candidate to file for the seat.

Schwarting said Hackney could be sworn into office as early as Oct. 13.

Patti Jeffcoat, Bamberg Voter Registration Board director, said state law says a special election to fill a vacancy is not required to be conducted if 14 calendar days have elapsed since the closing of the filing period for that office and only one person has filed and no one else has filed a declaration to be a write-in candidate. The filing period for the empty seat closed Sept. 2.

In other business, Schwarting reported the general operating millage for the current school year will be 234.4 mils, an increase of 10.5 mils over the 2007 operating millage of 223.9. She said the 2007 debt service millage in 2007 had been 44 mils, which has been in error for many years. According to Schwarting, the addition of 11 mils to the debt service millage for 2008 would not have been as large if the figures provided by the Bamberg County Treasurer’s office had been correct.

“This new debt service millage will not affect 4-percent owner-occupied property, only six-percent property,” Schwarting said. “When we issued $1.2 million in bonds for the field house and some other repairs and renovations, the debt service millage continued to go down, which the district felt was a significant inconsistency. This raise in debt millage is not coming from the school district but because of a re-calculation of the debt millage figures by Bamberg County officials to correct the previous inconsistencies.”

Also Monday:

-- Bamberg-Ehrhardt Middle School Principal Troy Phillips reported the focused Renewal Plan mandated by the S.C. Department of Education improved the school to below average last year. He said the hope is that at least the same level will be maintained during the current school year. Doing so would show improvement from the unsatisfactory rating of two years ago and remove B-E Middle School from the state’s school improvement list.

-- SAT scores from the 2007-2008 school year were approximately 20 points lower than the previous year, it was reported. Although any student who wishes to take the SAT will still be allowed to do so, Schwarting said the district staff will look into preventing test scores from students who have not taken SAT prerequisite course work from being reflected and reported through the district’s total SAT score, something now done by many other school districts.

-- Schwarting said the district’s PACT scores showed improvement almost across the board, especially among African American males.

--The board gave unanimous approval for field trips to Paris and to the Bands of America event in Atlanta, Ga., for the B-E High School Raider Regiment Band. The entire cost for both trips will be financed by the participants.

-- T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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