MARION, SC (WBTW) – The Marion County School Board met Wednesday for a public hearing on the district’s financial plans for the future. What started as a meeting to discuss the budget for the coming year, quickly led to questions from a group of retired teachers and concerned tax payers.
Brenda Hatfield says the teachers and tax payers have been coming together for a year now to look closely at what’s happening with the board’s finances. She says the group calls themselves the “Concerned Citizens Group”, and they are questioning how the board spends money.
“The board does not intend to change any of their deficiencies according to what’s written in the audit report,” said Hatfield.
The group says that’s a problem based on the board’s credit card receipts. The school board’s website allows you to see exactly where the money is going, but the “Concerned Citizens Group” says those credit card bills aren’t enough.
Several members say they’ve asked the school board for an itemized list of purchases. The chairperson of the board, Cynthia Legette, said that wouldn’t be a problem.
“We want to be an open book. We have nothing to hide,” said Legette.
According to the South Carolina School Board Association, Marion board members are paid $600 per month, compared to Florence school districts which get between $25 and $50 per meeting.
Some purchases the group questions include multiple hotel room visits, trips to Disney World and charges to various clothing stores. The board says school trips are paid for with the credit card, but the students’ families pay the district back. When asked about the clothing store purchases, Legette said they were items for needy children in the district.
“Now we have children within the district who just do not have what they should and I’m not going to sit here and talk about our children. I’m just not,” said Legette.
Members of the “Concerned Citizens Group” claim they understand some purchases are needed but claim when they previously reached out to the board about the itemized list, they got no response. They say the list would let them know what the purchases are for and who is spending the money.
