Six Trustees in Even Number Districts up For Reelection
The Greenville County School Board will hold a public hearing on the 2014-2015 General Fund Budget at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3rd.
At 6:30 following the 30-minute public hearing, the 12-member board will vote on the budget that may contain a tax increase. The Board has raised property taxes in five of the past six years. Citizens will be allowed three minutes each to comment on the budget, during the public hearing.
The Greenville County School Board is the 2nd largest employer in the County. They hire employees and set salaries for all teachers and administrators.
Six of the twelve board members in even numbered districts are up for reelection in November 2014.
Greenville County School Board is one of the better paid elected bodies in the county for the amount of time required. The power, perks and potential benefits are astronomical.
There is virtually no oversight over the school board and rarely any negative press. Most county residents don’t know who represents them on the School Board or how they vote on issues. The only board member removed from office in the past three decades was for a felony conviction having no connection to school board duties or the school district.
Some board members and top administrators have benefited from leverage the district has on banks. In the past, one or more superintendents were appointed to the governing board of a bank that had exclusive access to district banking business. A board chairman and top-level district employee had multi-million dollar, low interest business loans, from the same bank.
Former board members compose the board of directors of a “dummy” corporation created by the Greenville County School Board to circumvent the South Carolina constitutional debt limit. The BEST Board serves as a go-between insulating the school board from legal liability and dealing with New York Bankers regarding a one billion-dollar debt for construction that far exceeded the debt limit prescribed by the South Carolina Constitution. (The South Carolina Legislature quickly passed legislation closing the loophole and making the Greenville “dummy corporation” Plan illegal for other districts, counties and other government entities.) The debt incurred by the School Board is on the backs of Greenville County property owners and must eventually be paid with interest.
The Greenville Chamber and a local developer were helpful in developing the controversial billion-dollar building program that the local media successfully marketed to the parents of Greenville County.
The chairman of the board during the planning phase did not seek reelection and, together with a developer who was a leader in developing the construction plan, formed a corporation that was awarded a contract to administer and oversee the construction contracts. Their original contract with the School Board paid them more than $30 million which eventually grew to approximately $50 million.
More recently, a chairman of the Greenville County School Board was appointed vice president of one of the largest school constructing corporations in the nation.
It is not necessary to declare a political party affiliation to run for school board in Greenville County. The current Board leans left and liberal and frequently lobbies against the positions taken by the Greenville County Legislative Delegation Republican majority. There are no qualifications required. A high school dropout was elected to the board, later received a GED and continues to serve on the board. There is no filing fee. There is no primary and no runoff. A candidate does not have to receive more than 50 percent of the vote’s cast to win. Filing takes place in July and the candidate with the most votes in the November General Election is the winner.
Amazingly, there are no qualification required to oversee thousands of teachers and other employees, the education of even more thousands of students and no requirements except to be a registered voter and a resident of the district in which individuals file as candidates.
The candidates and districts where elections will be required this year are District 18 where Patrick Suddeth is the incumbent; District 20 with Chuck Saylors the incumbent; District 22: incumbent Lynda Leventis Wells; District 24: Incumbent Megan Hickerson; District 26: incumbent Roger Meek. District 28; incumbent Lisa Wells.
