School forgiveness legislation hits another snag

The School Forgiveness Bill hit another snag Thursday, as the state Senate was unable to resolve an amendment tacked on the bill Wednesday by the state House.

Meanwhile, funding flexibility legislation appears to be moving full speed ahead toward eventual passage.

State Sen. Thomas Alexander, who represents Oconee County and a portion of Pickens County, said the House-amended version of the School Forgiveness Bill, which now includes homeschooled and private school students, has created a snag. As a result, the Senate employed a procedural tactic that delays action until next Tuesday at the earliest.

“We can’t figure it out,” Alexander said Thursday afternoon regarding the House amendment.

School districts throughout the state canceled classes in mid-February for anywhere from one to three days. Although inclement weather makeup days are typically built into school calendars, legislators have urged they be forgiven this year due to the state budget crunch.

The Senate version, approved last week, contains a couple of amendments — one of which includes the ability of school districts to waive up to three missed days throughout the state for any reason.

The fact that many school districts are nearing their scheduled inclement weather makeup day is the reason why Alexander feels the issue needs to be finalized as quickly as possible.

“It’s going to be cutting it close,” Alexander said. “This could have been resolved by now had that amendment not been put in by the House. Unfortunately, it’s going to put us up against the deadline.”

Alexander said another perplexing factor is that, even if the House and Senate work out their differences, Gov. Mark Sanford has five days to take action.

“If it gets resolved Tuesday, that would put us to the week of Easter itself,” he said.

Oconee County was scheduled to make up its inclement weather day April 10, and Alexander said he hopes the district will take that day off as originally scheduled.

“My personal feeling is for them to go ahead and take Good Friday and let us continue to work until we can get this thing resolved,” Alexander said, adding that he has yet to discuss that possibility with Superintendent Mike Lucas.

While the School Forgiveness legislation has yet to receive forgiveness, Alexander said he is pleased with the way the funding flexibility legislation is progressing. Second reading was approved in the Senate Thursday, with third and final reading set for next Tuesday before heading to the House.

“I feel real good about that one, although nothing seems to be routine these days” Alexander said, adding that one amendment, regarding transparency, was tacked on to the Senate version.

The funding flexibility legislation would allow school districts more freedom in addressing state budget cuts. Last week, the full Senate Finance Committee passed a separate bill providing school districts with the freedom to delay contract renewals, furlough teachers to avoid layoffs, postpone certain assessment tests and shift money around to soften budget cuts.

Alexander hopes the funding flexibility legislation can be finalized by the end of next week.

goupstate.com
by Greg Oliver

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