By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal

goliver@upstatetoday.com

EASLEY — A month after tabling a recommendation to increase pay for assistant principals, the Pickens County School Board voted 5-1 in favor at its meeting last week.

The original motion to approve superintendent Danny Merck’s budget amendment for the current fiscal year totaling $109,847,325, included $80,001 to align the contract for assistant principals.

Trustee Alex Saitta, who opposed the recommendation made in October, cast the lone dissenting vote after the issue was removed from the table for discussion and action.

Saitta said the budget passed by the board in June had more expenditures than revenue coming in for the first time in nearly a decade.

That is a problem he said the district continues to experience, with $375,000 more going out of the school district’s budget than revenue coming in, and a capital maintenance budget that is a million dollars short ($4.6 million projected compared to $3.5 million coming in).

“The district should first pay for things it already committed to, then consider spending on new items like this second assistant principal pay raise,” Saitta said. “Giving this second assistant principal raise now is not required under the law nor was it an error in how their pay raise this year was set.

“The administration just wants to boost their pay more. Next year, revenue is likely to grow and so then the administration should make that their No. 1 priority in the new budget.”

Finance director Clark Webb told the board in October the amendment was due to an increase in local tax revenues of $788,781 due to growth, a state restricted funding increase in fringe benefits employer contributions of $484,117, as well as a State Education Improvement Act funding increase for teacher salary supplement and teacher salary fringe of $132,292.

When also adding in reductions of $476,620 for a state restricted funding decrease for retiree insurance and $37,744 for a state restricted funding decrease in the Education Finance Act, the total increase was an additional $890,827.

Of the $890,827, Webb recommended $810,826 be used for reducing use of the fund balance to catch up a second step increase for certified teachers. The district fell behind on step increases during the economic downturn several years ago when school districts were allowed to temporarily freeze that area of their budgets.

While the recommendation was for $810,826 to be used for that purpose, the remaining $80,001 was proposed for increasing assistant principals pay.

Saitta said he feels the school board and administration “have fallen back into the habit of deficit spending.”

“They are already spending more than they are bringing in and passed another $80,000 in new spending and then, at the end of the meeting, $50,000 in new spending,” Saitta said. “I think it will catch up to them in the long run.”

The additional $50,000 Saitta said involved an increase in pay to a couple of district administration employees.

“A position at one school was never filled this year, so they used that savings too,” he said. “The rough numbers were $100,000 in cost for additional personnel and those couple of pay raises, less the $50,000 they already had in the budget that wasn’t being used. That resulted in a net increase in cost to the general fund of $50,000.”

Although trustees Phillip Bowers and Henry Wilson voted to table to pay increase at the last meeting, both voted in support this time around. Bowers said his decision was due to the fact that assistant principals were not receiving pay commensurate with expectations and duties.

“Assistant principals are generally the next generation of principals and principals select our teachers,” Bowers said. “It is very important that we put the best teachers in front of our students. I want the best teachers, and I support assistant principal compensation so we have competent principals selecting our future teachers.”

COUNTY — Pickens County election officials are working to prepare for the 2016 presidential preference primaries set for February.

The Republican primary is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, while the Democratic primary will be held Saturday, Feb. 27.

Voters may participate in only one party’s presidential preference primary, and the deadline to register to vote in either is Jan. 27.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and the primaries will be held under the rules for providing photo ID at the polling place, according to election officials. Voters will be asked to provide one of the following photo IDs at their polling place: S.C. driver’s license, S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles ID card, S.C. voter registration card with photo, federal military ID or U.S. passport.

Voters without a photo ID can get one free of charge from the Department of Motor Vehicles or the Pickens County Registration and Elections Office. Voters who encounter an obstacle to getting a photo ID should bring their voter registration card without a photo with them to their polling place. These voters can then sign an affidavit swearing to their identity and to their obstacle to obtaining a photo ID and cast a paper provisional ballot. The ballot will count unless the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Pickens County has grounds to believe the affidavit is false.

For more information on photo ID or a list of polling places, visit pickenselections.org. Call (864) 898-5948 or (864) 898-5949 with questions.

Rocky Nimmons/Courier

Blue Ridge Electric Co-op officially kicked-off off the holiday season last week with the annual lighting ceremony for its Christmas tree.

Henderson and Dalton

World War II veteran Al Henderson, joined Blue Ridge president and CEO Charles Dalton to press the button to light the tree. Holiday celebrations will continue this week as several local municipalities have planned their Christmas parades.

PICKENS — Bull riding will return to Pickens this weekend, as the Ernie Treadway Rodeo will open its fifth annual winter season on Saturday night.[cointent_lockedcontent]

The bull riding will be held every Saturday night until April.

Kerry Gilstrap/Courier
Bull riding events are scheduled every Saturday from now through April in Pickens.

The event will be held at the Pickens Indoor Arena, located at 422 Ann St., starting at 7 p.m.

There will be plenty of heartstopping bull riding. Calf riding and mutton busting, featuring the younger riders, will also be a big part of the festivities. Many local riders will see action.

The events are fun for the entire family, with ticket prices being $10 at the door the night of the event. All kids are admitted free.

For more information or entry, call (864) 608-3807.

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PICKENS — Pickens First Baptist Church will host a live nativity event on Sunday, Dec. 13, from 5-7 p.m. in Legacy Square on Main Street.

The church invites everyone to come enjoy free food, drinks and games, including inflatables and a trackless train. Attendees will be able to join in the Christmas spirit with music by the adult and children’s choirs and concert band and take in the wonder of the live nativity scene in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

In case of inclement weather, the event will be held across the street in the Fellowship Hall of Pickens First Baptist Church at 406 E. Main St.

CLEMSON — Holy Trinity Episcopal Church will hold its annual bazaar and artisan market on Saturday, Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., in the church fellowship hall, located at 193 Old Greenville Highway across from Clemson University.

New this year will be dozens of vintage Clemson collectibles and memorabilia, including ornaments, decorations, books and prints. Also new is a “Santa’s Workshop,” where little ones can shop for mom and dad.

The bazaar will feature beautifully handcrafted items made by more than 25 talented artisans from around the Upstate and members of Holy Trinity. Examples include jewelry, gift baskets, soaps, quilts, woodworking, scarves, handbags, ornaments, and candles, as well as homemade take-home frozen meals, baked and canned goods and the best lunch in town.

Also available will be the next installment of the stained-glass Christmas ornaments series the Rose Window at Holy Trinity, as well as handmade Christmas stockings that can be ordered in advance.

This event, dating back more than 50 years, is a great opportunity to fellowship and shop for unique Christmas gifts.

Proceeds from the event will be shared among several charities including Family Promise of Pickens, Collins Children’s Home, Our Daily Rest, Safe Harbor, Habitat for Humanity of Anderson, Clemson Free Clinic and tuition grants for the Episcopal Day School.

More information can be found at holytrinitybazaar.org.

PICKENS — The Pickens County Museum of Art and History will be presenting two new exhibitions beginning Saturday.

The museum will host a reception from 1-4 p.m. Saturday for patrons to meet the artist, Brian MacCormack, presenting his “Participaintings,” work inspired by inspirational moments that are a part of his life. The exhibition will continue through Feb. 11.

Also opening that day will be “Art of Aquarius,” an exhibition of work by Jo Ann Taylor.

MacCormack has been making art, as he says, “since the Nixon administration.”

He started making drawings and paintings as a child and worked as a wood carver in New England. MacCormack has a BFA from the University of Massachusetts in North Dartmouth, and his MFA came from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. A few years ago, MacCormack returned to his roots, making paintings. Most of the pieces are fairly good-sized acrylic on plywood constructions with poplar or walnut framing. When not working on computers or painting, MacCormack and his wife, Carolyn, spend a lot of time with their horses around their home in Pendleton.

When asked about his work, MacCormack said, “With the portmanteau of ‘Participainting,’ I’m describing the creation of work as an integral part of my life instead of just something that I do from time to time. My work comes from moments of inspiration, something interesting or compelling, an idea somehow clicking into place and becoming a piece. From a bay behind the house where I grew up, going to a balloon festival enjoyed with my wife, to an encounter with a health condition, each of the pieces comes from a gut feeling that I should make a piece. Vision, inspiration, revelation — call it what you will, each piece is inspired by an event that is a part of my life.

“I get to use the tools I’ve come to acquire during my life,” MacCormack added. “I’ve been enamored by paintings ever since the high school trip to Boston’s Gardener Museum — before all the good stuff was stolen. I used to draw a lot more than I do now, mainly because of the invention of digital cameras and computers. I see technology as simply additional tools to achieve my ends.”

“Participaintings” is sponsored in part by South State Bank, Pickens Savings and Loan and Robinson Funeral Home, Crematory and Memorial Gardens. The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Located at the corner of U.S. Highway 178 at 307 Johnson St. in Pickens, the museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Thursdays from 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed.

For more information, contact the museum at (864) 898-5963.

EASLEY — Baptist Easley Hospital will hold the 22nd annual Festival of Trees Lighting Ceremony on Monday, Dec. 7, at 5:30 p.m. in the hospital atrium.

Don Keller will serve as honorary tree lighter. Music will be provided by the Crosswell Elementary Choir and local artist John Gay.

Prior to the service, the public is invited to enjoy a reception in the main lobby at Baptist Easley.

All contributions to the Festival of Trees are tax-deductible and will support the upgrade of surgical equipment at Baptist Easley. Contributions may be made by calling the (864) 442-7617.