2025-2026 Bill 3792 Text of Previous Version (Jan. 28, 2025)

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND ACT 106 OF 2021, RELATING TO THE CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN CLARENDON COUNTY INTO THE CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, SO AS TO CHANGE THE METHOD OF DETERMINING THE RESULTS OF ELECTIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, AND TO REQUIRE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO ANNUALLY SUBMIT ITS PROPOSED BUDGET TO THE CLARENDON COUNTY COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 2(C) of Act 106 of 2021 is amended to read:

(C) All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate for the Clarendon County School District Board of Trustees shall file written notice of candidacy with the Clarendon County Board of Voter Registration and Elections on forms furnished by the board. The filing period shall open at 12:00 p.m. on August first or, if August first falls on Saturday or Sunday, then 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday and shall run until 12:00 p.m. on August fifteenth or, if August fifteenth falls on Saturday or Sunday, no later than 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday. This notice of candidacy must be a sworn statement and shall include the candidate's name, age, election district in which he resides and from which he seeks election, voting precinct, period of residence in the county and election district, and other information that the board requires. The Clarendon County Board of Voter Registration and Elections shall conduct and supervise the elections for members of the Clarendon County School District Board of Trustees in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The board shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results. The commission shall publish notices of the elections pursuant to Section 7-13-35. The results of the elections must be determined by the nonpartisan plurality election and runoff method contained in Section 5-15-615-15-62. The members of the consolidated school district elected in these nonpartisan elections shall take office one week following the certification of their election pursuant to Section 59-19-315.

SECTION 2. Section 3(A) of Act 106 of 2021 is amended to read:

(A) The members of the Clarendon County School District Board of Trustees shall elect a chairman and other officers they consider necessary for terms that are coterminous with their appointed or elected terms of office.

(B) The Clarendon County School District Board of Trustees has the power, duty, and responsibility provided by law, including to:

(1) employ a superintendent as the chief executive officer;

(2) establish other administrative departments upon the recommendation of the superintendent;

(3) adopt the annual school district budget subject to approval by the Clarendon County Council;

(4) inquire into the conduct of an office, department, or agency of the school district;

(5) adopt and modify the attendance zones of schools within the school district;

(6) provide for an independent annual audit of the books and business affairs of the school district and for a general survey of school district business;

(7) cooperate to establish and maintain a central purchasing system for the purchase of contractual services, equipment, and supplies;

(8) cooperate to establish and maintain educational consortia;

(9) be responsible for policymaking actions and the review of regulations established to put these policies into operation; and

(10) set by majority vote of the board a salary that each member shall receive for attending meetings of the board, which may not exceed four hundred fifty dollars per month.

SECTION 3. Section 5 of Act 105 of 2021 is amended is read:

(A)(1) For the purposes of determining the 2022 property tax millage levy of the Clarendon County School District upon its creation, the millage levy for the district must be determined and calculated by the Department of Revenue based on the 2021 levy of the two present school districts and the value of a mill in each district. Thereafter, the millage levy for the year 2023 must be the millage levy for the previous year. To the allowed millage levy for 2022 and 2023 may be added any millage determined by the Department of Revenue necessary to comply with educational mandates imposed by federal or state law.

(2) The provisions of this subsection apply for school millages set for years ending in 2023.

(B) Beginning in 2024, the Clarendon County School District shall be vested with total fiscal autonomy. In order to obtain funds for school purposes, the board of trustees is authorized to impose an annual tax levy, exclusive of any millage imposed for bond debt service. Upon certification by the board of trustees to the county auditor of the tax levy to be imposed, the auditor shall levy and the county treasurer shall collect the millage so certified upon all taxable property in the district. The consolidated school district may raise its millage by no more than two mills over that levied for the previous year, in addition to any millage needed to adjust for the Education Finance Act inflation factor and sufficient to meet the requirements of Section 59 21 1030. An increase above the two mills for operations may be levied only after a majority of the registered electors of the district vote in favor of the millage increase in a referendum called by the district school board and conducted by the county election commission. If the school district calls for the referendum provided for in this subsection to be held at any time other than at the general election conducted pursuant to Section 7 13 10, then the school district shall pay the cost of the referendum. To the extent that the provisions of this section relating to increases in school millages conflict with the provisions of Section 6 1 320, relating to the millage rate increase limitation, the provisions of Section 6 1 320 control.Beginning with Fiscal Year 2025-2026, the Clarendon County School District Board of Trustees shall annually, on or before the thirty-first of May, submit to the Clarendon County Council its proposed budget for the ensuing school year, which shall be subject to approval by the county council. Each proposed budget shall be in line item form so as to reflect the purpose of all expenditures from any source of funds which will be required within each office or department of the district. The budget must specifically include, without limitation, an itemized list of salaries paid to all administrators and heads of departments or offices within the school district. Each line item in the budget must be reconciled at the end of the fiscal year, and a detailed accounting of budgetary funds used on each item, as well any resulting surpluses or deficits, must be included in the district superintendent's annual report on the finances and administrative activities of the board.

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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