From the Desk of the Superintendent

The Week of June 25, 2009

On Monday, we held our Board meeting, where we recognized the good work of St. Andrews Middle School students and Chuck Christen from the Charleston Exchange Club; confirmed two new principals; and brought forth a second reading of our Fiscal Year 2010 Budget for the Board’s review and passage.

The Board voted 5-4 to approve the budget that appears on slide 16 on the PowerPoint presented at the meeting.  Board Members asked that we pull the furloughs in line 9 and find that $3,000,000 elsewhere.  The budget that was approved increases taxes for all tax-payers by four mills.  This represents a tax increase on the “debt service” portion of our budget.  Despite these results, I was very pleased that a representative from the Chamber of Commerce spoke publicly in favor of a millage (tax) increase for the business community, making clear the Chamber's support of a strong public education system.

We have our work cut out for us with this budget, but I have confidence in our people and programs and know that we will continue to do “more with less” for the sake of our students.  I believe that strong public schools equal a strong community—economically and socially—and we must all band together and collaborate in support of our children.  Our spirit, and our momentum as a district, could not be stronger. 

This is evident every day, but I saw it with perfect clarity when I spoke to the administrative assistants who gathered for their second annual conference on Wednesday.  West Ashley High School buzzed with energy as these consummate professionals honed their craft, shared good ideas, and focused on what matters the most—student achievement.  I applaud all of them, and hope that they—and every member of our staff and every public education supporter in our community—know how appreciative I am of the mission they support.