School panels lure few
Constituent boards, with limited powers, attract only handful of candidates
Charleston County constituent school boards are a part of the foundation of the school district, but their increasingly limited powers and responsibilities have led to growing frustration among their members and waning interest in this second tier of the district’s structure.
No one is running for nine of the 24 constituent school board seats that are up for grabs in the Nov. 4 election, which means this election has more seats without candidates than the previous two elections combined. Even on the most vocal constituent school board, which is downtown, no one is running for the three open seats.
Half of the constituent school board races have only one candidate, and only three of the 24 seats have more than one candidate vying for the job.
Constituent school boards were created when lawmakers consolidated the county’s eight school districts into one in 1967. Constituent boards were a compromise designed to appease those who were concerned about losing local control over schools and about the door being opened for federal government involvement in “racial manipulation.”
The nine-member county school board was given control of money and policy issues while the eight constituent districts had a role in or oversaw student and teacher assignments, transportation, principal hiring, attendance boundaries and discipline. Charleston is believed to be the only place in the country with this sort of structure.
Today, constituent boards’ duties have dwindled to disciplinary hearings, student transfer requests and schools’ attendance boundaries. Some see the boards as voices for their communities, but it’s difficult for constituent boards to make changes because their powers are so limited.
Even obtaining information from the school district can be difficult, with some of these elected officials resorting to filing formal Freedom of Information Act requests.
Some boards, particularly the one downtown, often are opposed to the county board’s position on an issue, creating friction between the two bodies.
“The whole system is just dysfunctional,” said Pam Kusmider, chairwoman of the downtown constituent school board, who is not running for re-election. “As soon as I became a constituent board member, I realized that it was a handicap. I had more power as just a parent.”
LeRoy Seabrook, a 14-year member of the St. Pauls constituent school board, thinks he’s faced opposition once during his tenure. He’s running unopposed for his seat this year. Constituent boards are needed, vital and serve a purpose, but their powers have been progressively stripped away or minimized, he said.
“I think we still need to be at the table and, unfortunately, some of the frustration has been that we’ve been ignored and sidestepped and worked around,” he said. “If we put as much energy into working with the constituent boards as we have put into trying to get rid of them, and the constant bashing, our students would’ve been much better served.”
Robert Dillon Jr., a member of the West Ashley constituent school board, is running unopposed for a second term. If anyone would’ve asked him whether they could run for his spot, he said he would’ve stepped aside.
“It’s a terrible job,” he said. “It is just misery.”
Most of the board’s time is spent on disciplinary hearings, which he described as depressing because of students’ circumstances. Constituent boards also aren’t well-informed about what’s going on, Dillon said.
Associate superintendents were assigned to specific constituent districts, but that changed when the superintendent reorganized associate superintendents and assigned them to specific grades, he said.
Doug Berger, a member of the downtown constituent board, decided not to run for office, partly because of his frustration and partly to have more time with his family. The constituent board’s role is limited, and the county board doesn’t give constituent boards what they need, he said.
“You can only beat your head up against the wall for so long,” he said. “Constituent boards have a lot of inherent value, but without a budget and being able to get an FOIA request honored, we’re put in a stranglehold.”
Lawmakers seem to recognize a need for change but say their hands are tied by the courts. Constituent boards were part of the reason the courts found the school district to be desegregated, and changing the district’s structure could disrupt its status as being integrated and lead to lawsuits and expenses, said Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms. Some members of the delegation have been reticent to make changes to the law for that reason, he said.
“This is a legal reality that we have no control over,” he said. “If we’re going to move, we have to make sure we move cautiously.”
Others disagree. Rep. Ben Hagood, who sponsored a bill last year that eliminated some duties of constituent boards, said he doesn’t think it’s a valid legal concern, and neither does Gregg Meyers, a county school board member and former attorney for the Justice Department who was involved in the Charleston desegregation case.
Meyers said the state could make any change it wants to the district’s structure, and it wouldn’t affect its status as “unitary.”
The state could get into trouble only if it makes changes motivated by a racial discriminatory purpose or whether those changes have a racially discriminatory effect, he said.
By Diette Courrégé
The Post and Courier
October 22, 2008