Letter to the editor: Tax dollars funding upgrades to facilities at closed school

At the Feb. 12, 2024, Sumter County School Board meeting, the board decided to spend almost $400,000 of your tax dollars to fund upgrades to "athletic facilities" at the closed Mayewood/Brewington Academy. This vote is irresponsible, and it is not the first time the school board has failed in its responsibility to "we the taxpayers" of Sumter County. The board works for every citizen of Sumter County, not a small partisan subset.

Let me repeat, Mayewood/Brewington is a closed facility and has been since the end of 2018 school year. The district found the facility not cost-effective to remain open because of dwindling enrollment. The board closed Mayewood but never finished the process; they failed to fully close and sell the property. As a result, instead of making money (potentially millions of dollars), we the Sumter taxpayers continue to pay utility and maintenance bills at the closed school. The main building has degraded into a state of disrepair and is used now as an air-conditioned storage facility.

To fully understand this folly, recent history is helpful. As a result of the Mayewood closure, the equally underutilized R.E. Davis Elementary was expanded to include grades 6-8 and renamed to a preparatory school. To allow seventh- and eighth-grade students to play football, the use of the old football field at Mayewood was authorized as an interim solution until a new facility at R.E. Davis could be built.

The 2018 bond issue money (our tax dollars) was allocated to acquire land and build an athletic field at R.E. Davis. The amount was $388,651. The project completely fell through after a review of the proposal was rejected by state inspectors as unsuitable. The bond included three separate funding items: land, a building and an athletic field at R.E. Davis (not Mayewood). After the state decision, the three line items and money were tucked back in the drawer. Not be heard from again until the summer of 2023 (quite by accident).

On Jan. 28, 2019, after Mayewood was closed, the school board for an unknown reason held a vote to reopen Mayewood Middle School. The proposal was (apparently) made in executive session (which is behind closed doors).

When the board returned to open session the proposal was voted on and passed 6-2 without prior public notification, reasoning, or debate. Current board member Mac McLeod voted yes, current board member Ragin abstained, and current board member Canty voted no. The district at that time was in a Fiscal Emergency. The district had overspent by $6 million and was under conservatory by the State Board of Education. Reopening the school would add an estimated cost of over $1 million, money the district did not have. That inexplicable and irresponsible vote, which was questioned as illegal, was overturned in May 2019 by a vote of 5-3. The proposal to reverse the January decision was bundled with the state-mandated fiscal recovery plan (how the district was going to recover from the $6 million hole). Current board member McCleod voted to keep Mayewood open, which means he voted to kill the fiscal recovery plan, which would incur over $1 million more in debt and put the district at financial risk, just to reopen a school that was already closed due to its high cost and underutilization.Five years later and here we are again… as Yogi Berra said "it's deja vu all over again". At a review of finances in the summer of 2023 Trustee Shery White asked the district about an old bond item still on the books. There were several, she just happened to pick that one. There was no answer from the district as to why no one knew about it or the current state of the nearly $400,000. What followed was "we found money now we have to spend it". We have just the place to do it, exactly where it will do the least good. The School Board's vote Monday to dump nearly $400,000 into a closed facility to "upgrade" an athletic complex that already has a serviceable track, a more than adequate football field for middle school and has ample existing facilities for the students and public. While this proposal and vote was not done behind the veil of executive session, it was rushed and very limited in scope, without any consideration as to what the long-term plan is. This one-trick pony had three options: less expensive, expensive, and very expensive. No proposals to use existing facilities, to modify existing facilities (there is an entire empty school and an annex building known as the Ag building), utilization of temporary units, etc. Idea's should have been considered and presented. No long-term plan was considered. There was no sense of saving the taxpayers' money or finding cost-effective and adequate options, the goal appeared to be "spend all the money" and spend it at Mayewood. And on Monday they did just that.

One option to consider: move the 140 plus 6-8 grade students to Chestnut Oaks Middle which is approximately 6 miles distance from RE Davis, return RE Davis to an elementary school, and fully close and sell off Mayewood.

Chestnut Oaks is a newer facility on a larger campus that operates only as a middle school, it also has all the sports facilities needed for both boys and girls. The 12-15 football players from RE Davis would get to play on a full team, learn basic football skills, and be able to compete. The same goes for all sports offered.

Academically, this change would result in one effort to raise education levels of middle and elementary students vs. the current failed setup that has both elementary and middle school under one roof and one administration at RE Davis. The school is currently at or near the bottom academically, not just in the county, but in the state (640 of 644 overall for elementary and 325th of 325th for middle schools (source: schooldigger.com)).

Financially, this option makes perfect sense, according to the redistricting study (paid for by the School Board) Chestnut Oaks is at approximately 36% of capacity. We can stop paying for endless maintenance and utility costs for a facility that needs to be divested. Over $110,000 was spent last year at Mayewood, not one penny of that on education.

RE Davis can focus on the job at hand, which is education and laying a solid academic foundation for students. A key factor in student development is meeting the South Carolina statutory "read to succeed" requirements. Students must be proficient in 3rd grade level reading to move on. It is a universally accepted axiom that students who are not proficient at a 3rd grade level before they move to a 4th grade level have significantly reduced chances of a successful academic outcome.

Improve student academic opportunities all around; improve teacher morale; stop paying utility and maintenance at Mayewood, and sell it. This plan would not only save money but make money. This plan would increase the utilization rate of underutilized Chestnut Oaks, and reduce overall cost at RE Davis. Win-Win-Win!

We must ensure every student meets basic proficiency levels--that is "crawl before you walk". We ask kids who have never mastered a crawl to run. Sumter County can do better, we must demand better from our School Board and District leadership both fiscally and academically.

JP REILLY

Dalzell