Three school board members didn’t have to travel far Thursday for the annual fall meeting of the South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA).

In attempt to save money, the state organization held its regional meeting Thursday evening by live teleconference to various school sites on the state’s Instructional Television program. School trustees Willie Crosby, Billy Blackwell, and Cheryll Smith participated in the teleconference at the Gaffney High media center.

Education funding was the dominant theme in the legislative preview meeting. Cherokee County and other school districts have already dealt with a 4 percent budget cut since this year’s budgets took effect July 1.

“One of the main things we discussed was the status of school funding for the upcoming year,” Crosby said. “While they did not indicate any cuts are coming, the South Carolina School Boards Association did recommend we contact our legislative delegation with our concerns about school funding.”

School districts have been challenged financially with the shift from property taxes to relying on sales tax to fund the public school system. Federal education stimulus dollars and a state school funding flexibility law have helped school districts deal with budget cuts over the past year.

Cherokee County schools have lost $4.5 million in state funding since August of 2008. The federal education stimulus money is scheduled to expire in 2011.

The Cherokee County School District has been looking into grant opportunities in recent months to help improve high school graduation rates and serve more children in 4-year-old kindergarten programs.