Ledger Staff Writer

The school board's budget committee moved Tuesday to make money available for travel expenses.

School board chairperson Sandra Greene would have $2,000 annually in the district's budget to attend conferences and training meetings. Other school trustees would receive $1,500 annually.

Board travel was previously allocated to individual board members in these amounts. But in 2001 the trustees restricted travel because of state budget cuts. Since that time, money from the school board's contingency budget has paid for trustees to attend state required events like the South Carolina School Boards Delegate Assembly and A Day At The Capitol legislative day.

Copeland, along with budget committee members Lindley Auton and Willie Crosby, voted to recommend restoring the individual board members' allocations at next Tuesday's meeting. If the recommendation is approved, school trustees would only receive half of this year's travel allocation because the district is midway through the 2004-2005 fiscal year.

School trustees currently are paying their own travel expenses. For example, Auton and school trustee Pat Wells attended a regional South Carolina School Boards Association meeting this fall.

The meeting led Cherokee County to join other school boards statewide in passing a resolution opposing the Put Parents in Charge Act. The proposal supported by Gov. Mark Sanford would offer parents school choice by providing tax credits for the price of tuition, the cost of home schooling and transferring to another public school.

Public education organizations contend the Put Parents in Charge Act will divert money from public schools so parents can pay for private school tuition or fund home schooling expenses for their children.

The significant impact the act could have on school districts is an example of why school trustees need to stay well-informed about education issues, Auton said.