By SCOTT POWELLLedger Staff Writer

The state House budget version sent to the Senate increased the base student cost from $1,852 per student to $2,290 per student next school year.

Part-time dental and health benefits, school resource officers and funding for alcohol and drug abuse programs were added into the base student cost. In addition, the House rolled $13.9 million of the state’s technology initiative into the budget.

Locally, the total amount of funding for public schools is expected to be $9,826 per student. That is broken down as $4,296 in state, $964 federal, and $4,566 in local education funding.

The increase in K-12 education money is one of several numbers that lead state Rep. DeWitt McCraw (D-Gaffney) to believe the state House has passed a more education-friendly budget this year.

“The economy is improving so we had more money to work with this year. This was the first time in our history that the House unanimously passed the budget,” McCraw said. “Education was fully funded. We were able to fund teacher salaries at $300 above the Southeast average. Overall, this is a really good budget.”

The House budget provides $18 million in new funding for school buses. It increases funding for summer schools by $21 million and provides $1.6 million for adult education to target 17 to 21-year-olds who have not completed high school.

It also increases teacher supply money from $200 to $250 per teacher.

The budget goes into effect July 1.