Opinion ID: 2502158
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Act 308 Directly Conflicts with a General Law

Text: This Court has on two occasions invalidated a local law involving county school districts because of a conflict with existing general law. In Smythe v. Stroman , a provision in the act at issue provided that a newly consolidated school district would not assume the bonded indebtedness of its original school districts. 251 S.C. at 282, 162 S.E.2d at 170. The general law required that when school districts are consolidated, the consolidated district shall take on the liabilities of the original districts. Id. Finding that provision to be in direct conflict with the general law, this Court struck the provision from the act, while upholding the remainder of the act as a special provision in a general law under subsection X of Article III, section 34. Id. at 289, 162 S.E.2d at 173. In Kearse v. Lancaster, a school district had been previously created by consolidating the Olar and the Three-Mile districts. 172 S.C. 59, 61, 172 S.E. 767, 768 (1934). The Three-Mile district wished to withdraw from the consolidated district and re-establish itself as it formerly existed. Id. The act at issue allowed only those residing in the Three-Mile district to vote in an election to determine the question of whether it should be withdrawn from the consolidated district. Id. This Court found that the local law conflicted with the general law that addressed school incorporation, and as such, the act violated subsection IX of Article III, section 34. Id. at 63, 172 S.E. at 769. In my opinion, the South Carolina Code does not include a general law that explicitly vests budget-making authority with a school district's board of trustees. The Board cites to several provisions within Title 59 of the South Carolina Code to support its contention there is a direct conflict between Act 308 and the general law. Of note, section 59-19-10 provides that [e]ach school district shall be under the management and control of the board of trustees.... S.C.Code Ann. § 59-19-10 (2004). Act 308 vests sole budget-making authority with a finance committee and requires its approval for a list of enumerated expenses. H. 4431, Act 308 of S.C. Acts 2010. Outside of this function, however, the ability to execute the budget provisions made by the finance committee and the duty to establish the policy of the school district remains with the Board. Id. Act 308 does not affect the Board's ability to promulgate rules and regulations regarding standards of achievement or conduct within the district, to call meetings, or generally, to control the educational interests of the district. Therefore, I do not believe Act 308 squarely conflicts with section 59-19-10 of the Code. The general law also provides that school trustees have the power to manage and control school property, S.C.Code Ann. § 59-19-90(5) (2004), to provide suitable school houses, Id. § 59-19-90(1), and to purchase, rent, and lease supplies and equipment necessary for the operation of the public schools of the district, Id. § 59-19-130. Again, Act 308 does not conflict with any of these laws because under the act, the finance committee is charged only with preparing the annual budget and approving any fiscally related activity of the district. The Board continues to be the body that acquires the goods necessary for the upkeep and operation of its schools. The Board has not directed this Court to a provision in the Code that explicitly grants a board of trustees the budget-making power that Act 308 has now taken away. For the reasons stated above, I do not believe that Act 308 conflicts with an existing general law.