District 1 gives raises to all employees, no new mills

The Hampton County District 1 Board voted to issue a two percent raise for district employees, bus drivers and teachers during a monthly meeting held at 7 p.m. at the Varnville Elementary School. Teachers will also remain eligible for their step raises, which are based on time with the district.

The vote passed unanimously by the board. The hiring of new teachers within the district will cease this year, but no layoffs of teachers will occur. The raises for district employees will not create a change to the county’s millage rate, Superintendent Dr. Douglas McTeer said.

“We are very proud of our employees in the district,” said school board member Eugene Jenkins, Jr.

The school board hopes to keep the student-to-teacher ratio at a 20-1 level. Cuts to the district’s funding will not make that easy to maintain, but with no teacher layoffs projected to occur, the school board is confident they will keep the 20-1 average within the district. The cuts to the funding stem from a decreasing enrollment rate in the district.

New coaches hired

District 1 has recently made two new hires, however, at Wade Hampton High School. Two athletic coaches have been hired; Head Baseball Coach Joel Vaughn and Head Volleyball Coach Mike Paul.

“He is not from Hampton, but his family is. His mother grew up here and his father was a member of our staff for years and years,” McTeer said of Vaughn. “He had previously coached at Barnwell and was very successful up there. We look forward to having the chance of having a really good teacher, as well as baseball coach. We think we are going to have a very successful baseball program in the future.”

Vaughn will teach social studies at WHHS.

“A new volleyball coach came in. He did not coach this year, but had a very successful volleyball career in Georgia,” said McTeer of the newly hired coach. “We think that are volleyball program is going to be in very good hands, as well.”

Second reading of budget

The district’s budget was voted on, but actual budget figures have not been drafted due to the lack of final figures from both the state and county. The board will hope to utilize the exact same budget as they did last year, with the only changes being added to the budget being the two percent raises and the addition of an expanded vocational program at WHHS.

The motion to utilize last year’s budget as a base for this year’s budget passed by a unanimous vote during the boards March 21 meeting. Mrs. Priester made the motion pertaining to the budget. The second reading of the budget passed unanimously, with the added changes.

During the Superintendent’s report, McTeer gave information regarding the district’s fund balance. The balance at the end of May will be approximately $1.2 million and, according to McTeer, looks to be “right in line with projections.” By the next meeting in June, the district will have presented a bond, as well as a tax anticipation node. The tax anticipation note will be in the area of $1.8 million and the bond will not increase millage rates, which will remain at 50 mills.

Palmetto Gold Award

The final presentation of the evening was an award to Ben Hazel Primary School. The Palmetto Gold Award was awarded by the South Carolina Department of Education and the State Board of Education to Ben Hazel for their “outstanding general performance” during 2014-15 school year.

The award was accepted by former Ben Hazel principal Cassandra Williams, who was principal of the school during the 2014-15 school year, and by Gregg Ackerman, current principal at Ben Hazel.  

“This was all under Mrs. Williams’s leadership,” said Ackerman. “But I’ve always been one to take all the credit,” he said to many laughs from the audience.

In other District 1 School Board meeting news

• Pastor Charlie Grant spoke to the board during the public comments portion of the meeting and asked the district to mark the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Hampton County public schools with a proclamation.
• Students from the Varnville Elementary School performed songs for the school board.