Lottery a loser for S.C. schools in March

South Carolina schools will see no money from the state lottery in March, and only received half of the funds they generally see in February, state officials said.

Lottery proceeds are down $5.5 million from July to January when compared to the same period the year before, lottery spokeswoman Julie Huffman said.

State law requires college scholarships be funded before K-12 public schools, so checks won't be written to school districts in March, Huffman said.

The shortfall in lottery revenues will have a limited impact on the Beaufort County School District, according to chief financial officer Phyllis White.

White said the district takes in about $1 million from the lottery each year. The loss of lottery revenue will total about $125,000.

White said lottery funds go to the district's English for Speakers of Other Languages program, which has a budget of just under $2 million.

She's not worried about having to make serious cuts.

"I would have to talk to the superintendent about how to address the issue," she said. "But we aren't going to be getting rid of any teachers."

White said it should be simple for the district to juggle its budget to compensate for the loss.

It has about $13.6 million in reserves in its general fund, she said. The district also has seen about $500,000 in energy savings this year after placing all schools on an automated thermostat system.

Meanwhile, the lottery revenue shortfall statewide is only a temporary problem, and things should return to normal in April, said Len Richardson, director of finance for the state Education Department.

The drop in revenue is not a surprise to lottery officials, who expected a dip in sales after North Carolina started its lottery in 2006.