Supporters of a ballot initiative to renew an operating referendum for Anderson Community Schools warned of “catastrophic” consequences should the measure fail in November.
During a public meeting Thursday evening at the Anderson City Building, ACS officials gave a detailed presentation outlining the district’s needs in academic and support programs and day-today operations. The referendum, they said, would generate $2.9 million annually to help mitigate those costs.
“There are a lot of people who have no idea how poorly-funded our schools are,” said Angie Harrison, president of the Anderson Community Schools Referendum Political Action Committee. “We’re going to have a shortfall this year for the schools, so the referendum needs to pass to reduce the shortfall. It’s not going to cover the shortfall completely.”
Voters in November will decide whether to renew the operations referendum’s $0.1077 tax rate, which officials have said is needed to help bridge a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall prompted by state property tax caps, inflation and stagnant state funding.
Without the referendum, ACS would face an estimated $5.5 million deficit. If the referendum passes, the corporation would be at a $2.6 million deficit. If passed, the referendum would remain active from 2027 to 2034.
Several community members have asked why the corporation is not asking for enough to cover the $5.5 million deficit. Harrison said that district officials recognize the financial pressures facing many of the city’s residents.
“Our city…is financially limited,” Harrison said. “The board spent a lot of time going back and forth on whether to ask for more. They know there’s a large part of our community that can’t afford books and new backpacks, so asking someone like that to spend another $1 is asking for too much. That’s why they didn’t go for the full $5 million.”
During the meeting the district’s chief financial officer, Tyler Elmore, gave a presentation detailing what the actual question for the referendum will look like on the ballot and explaining what the question meant.
After the presentation, Elmore and superintendent Joe Cronk answered questions from the audience of about 25 attendees, several of whom handed in questions on note cards.
“I thought they were thoughtful questions,” Cronk said. “I just appreciate any of the questions that our community has, and we’ll do our best to answer them. We’re just trying to be as transparent as possible and give the best answers we can, and I thought the questions tonight were good.
“Hopefully our answers were clear and helped people to see the necessity of this referendum,” he added.
If the referendum fails, Cronk said there could be “catastrophic” effects.
“It’s going to greatly affect everyone within the community that attends ACS,” Cronk said. “You could see … a reduction in curriculum offerings, larger class sizes, drops to transportation, less transportation to homes for after-school events, less programing after school, and some extracurricular activities being curtailed. You’re going to see a reduction everywhere.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.