Senate votes to oust S.C. State trustees

The state Senate gave key approval to a bill Thursday to oust S.C. State University’s trustees.

The move comes after years of financial turmoil at the Orangeburg school, the state’s only historically black public college.

Senators amended a House-approved version of a bill to remove the 10-member board. The differences between the House- and Senate-passed bills will be negotiated in a conference committee after a final perfunctory Senate vote next week.

The Senate wants the governor and top lawmakers to appoint five temporary trustees to oversee S.C. State.

The House wants the five-member S.C. Budget and Control Board — made up of Gov. Nikki Haley, two legislators and two other statewide elected officials — to name the five interim trustees.

Both versions have the temporary board remain in charge of S.C. State until 2018. Lawmakers would appoint a new permanent board after that.

Lawmakers are taking the unprecedented step of sacking S.C. State’s trustees after school leaders failed to trim its growing deficit.

The 119-year-old school has a $17 million deficit of unpaid bills and loans after years of not cutting it budgets enough to match falling enrollment and state funding. That deficit is expected to grow to more than $20 million by midyear.

S.C. State’s accreditation was placed on probation last year because of financial and governance concerns.

An accreditation team finished a three-day on-campus review of the school Thursday. A vote on S.C. State’s accreditation status is expected in June.

This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Senate votes to oust S.C. State trustees."