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CENTRE — Superintendent of Schools Brian Johnson said last week that recent reports suggesting the Board of Education (BOE) is unhappy with its county-provided office space are missing the issue.

Johnson and Board members are not at all displeased with their offices on Main Street, he said Tuesday. The problem is that they are not getting the money they need to administer them properly.

At Monday's meeting of the Cherokee County Commission, Johnson and members of the Board of Education showed up with legal counsel in-tow and asked for a resolution to the funding shortfall within 21 days.

At issue is the amount of money the Cherokee County Commission provides to the BOE for daily operations. The money in question has been mandated by the state since 1940 to provide adequate workspace for superintendents and their support staffs.

“This is about more than office space,” Johnson told The Post. “The money is for general operations: electricity, plumbing, postage, copies, general maintenance, and so on – everything we need to run this office. State law says this is a separate cost that we are entitled to from the county.”

The situation over the allotment to the BOE first arose in December 2009, when the County Commission cut funding from $50,000 annually to $10,000, citing declining income at the county landfill.

“We started doing some investigating and found out that our operating funds have nothing to do with the landfill,” Johnson said. “State law requires that the Commission fund the Board's operating costs, regardless of where the money comes from.”

Financial records provided by County Administrator Tim Burgess show that after Johnson questioned the shortfall, the Commission reimbursed the additional $40,000.

Soon after, Johnson had his staff take a closer look at operating costs. He said it was quickly discovered that the BOE requires more than double what the Commission had been providing prior to the 80 percent cut.

“We put a pencil to it, and we're in excess of a hundred thousand dollars,” Johnson said. “By the time you figure in maintenance on all these buildings and all the other costs, it's around $115,000 annually. And that's a very conservative estimate.”

In addition to BOE headquarters on Main Street in Centre, there is also a technology office in Cedar Bluff, a maintenance and textbook office near Cherokee County High School and an education specialist's office in a residential dwelling in downtown Centre.

Johnson said he and county officials have talking since December 2009 to try and reach a compromise on the annual payments. But he added that the meetings have not led to a resolution, despite what he thought was a compromise reached months ago with the county for a new annual payment of $90,000.

About a month after that meeting, Johnson said he was informed that a majority of the commissioners had voted to return the BOE's allocation to the original $50,000 a year.

The financial records provided by Burgess show that, in addition to the $50,000 for office operations, the county paid out over $4.7 million to the BOE in Fiscal Year 2010 -- over 53 percent of all property tax collections in the county.

So far in FY 2011, the county has forwarded about $4.45 million to the school system, with around $1 million in taxes still remaining to be collected -- of which the BOE will receive its standard 53.24 percent share.

The documents also show that in 2010 the County Commission dispensed an additional $782,000 to the Board of Education, its portion from county sales tax collections. The office of Probate Judge Melvyn Salter generated an additional $39,375 in sales tax collections for the BOE in 2010.

In addition, commissioners used a variety of additional funding sources to provide around $160,000 to schools. Included among those expenditures: $99,800 from the commissioners' discretionary funds for projects at several campuses, including $34,000 for the new gym at Gaylesville, $6,500 for football complex upgrades at Sand Rock, $4,000 for supplies and $2,430 for an entrance sign at the Career and Technology Center, and $3,000 for the Warrior marching band to attend camp.

Records show that commissioners also presented $5,000 checks to each of the eight campuses in the county school system, totaling $40,000.

The commissioners also approved an additional $20,000 in improvements paid from the county's gas tax fund, including speed bumps in front of Cedar Bluff School, relocating the walking track at Spring Garden, and a building pad at Centre Middle School.

"None of this additional funding from discretionary monies and landfill royalties is required by law," Burgess said. "The Commission has provided these items requested by individual schools as extras to enhance facilities, quality of education, and extra-curricular activities for students."

Commissioner Kimball Parker said he remains “open to working with the Board of Education to negotiate a solution” to the Board's claim of a funding shortfall. He refrained from commenting further because of the possibility of future litigation.

Judge Salter said it is his understanding that the disagreement between the Commission and the BOE is limited to the appropriate amount of funding for office operations.

Johnson said he is not upset with the commissioners over their decision against the $90,000 annual payment. He said he understands they have a tough job to do and an even tougher economic climate to perform it in.

“I respect and appreciate all of the work the commissioners do for this county,” Johnson said. “But this boils down to principle. This is the allocation that the law says we are supposed to get, and I've got to stand up for my employees and the children in our system.”

Local attorney Bill Hawkins, who represents the county government, said he looks forward to more clarification on the BOE's position from a legal standpoint.

“Their attorney spoke in broad and general terms,” Hawkins told The Post. “His interpretation may be overly broad in regards to the specifics of the statute.”

Editor's note: The pertinent section of the Alabama Code reads as follows:

Section 16-9-24

Supervisors; clerical assistants; offices; equipment.

The county board of education may in its discretion provide upon the nomination of the county superintendent of education, at least the following assistants: an elementary school supervisor and a statistical and stenographic clerk. No person shall be eligible for appointment as such supervisor who does not hold a certificate of administration and supervision as required of county superintendents of education. The county board of education may employ additional clerical and professional assistants, including health supervisors, and may reimburse them for all actual traveling expenses necessary in the performance of their official duties. The county superintendent is hereby required to maintain an office at the county seat. The county commission shall provide the county superintendent of education and his professional and clerical assistants with ample, convenient and comfortable office quarters. The county commission shall also provide necessary furniture, office equipment, stationery, postage, forms and supplies required by the county superintendent of education and his assistants.

(School Code 1927, §169; Code 1940, T. 52, §130.)