Greenville, SC: $25M more for special needs; 12,500 SPED students

April 15, 2025, Aiken (SC) Standard: Greenville schools nearly $1B budget proposal has $11.7M hole for 2025-26, tax increase likely 

https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/education-lab/greenville-schools-budget-tax-increase/article_9f8dface-faff-4606-a83d-18a102de5430.html# 

GREENVILLE — Special education teachers, mental health counselors and behavior therapists are the centerpiece of a budget proposal that could increase operating costs next year by $25 million in the state's largest school district.

The Greenville County Schools spending plan prioritizes the growing needs of its more than 12,500 disabled students while also adding teachers and support staff for the hundreds of new children who will be enrolling in the fall, Superintendent Burke Royster said. 

But with an estimated $948 million in federal, state and local dollars expected to flow into the district's coffers next year, that will leave a hole of $11.7 million to $16.5 million in the district's budget, district staff reported at an April 14 budget workshop. Unless an unexpected windfall of state cash comes in — lawmakers in Columbia are still debating the state's budget — Greenville County taxpayers might be asked next year to pay a little bit more for their public school district, which educates just under 80,000 students, and at 11,000 employees is one of the largest employers in the region. . . .

The proposal to increase spending next year on special education comes after months of public backlash from parents who have said their children are not getting the therapies and accommodations they need to thrive in a classroom. One middle-school special education teacher was arrested in the fall after an altercation with a student, and another special needs child slipped away from his elementary school and was found drowned some hours later after a massive search.

GCS BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Greenville County Schools anticipates it will collect $947 million in revenue, barring a local tax increase or changes to the state's allocation. Some of the district's spending priorities include:

48 mental health counselors, primarily funded through Medicaid reimbursements: $1.5 million

10 additional special education teachers: $968,000

Raises and three days of additional training for all special education classroom aides: $1.76 million

2 additional behavior specialists: $266,000 . . .

An external audit of the school's special education programs is still underway and will wrap up in December.

No one spoke in opposition to the plan. Still, at least three board members have consistently voted against tax increases in recent years, and board members who have supported tax increases — primarily to bump up teacher salaries — faced challenges in this past fall's elections.

School board member Angie Mosley, who beat a no-tax-increase challenger this past fall, applauded the additional special education spending included in the budget. . . .