Residential statewide school seeks $20 million for research building and funding to expand summer camps and outreach

Danny Dorsal, who identified himself as serving as board president and a returning alumnus, told the subcommittee the school's budget priorities include mandatory teacher step increases, rising operating expenses, a capital request for a research building, and program expansions to reach more students statewide.

Why it matters: The school said it delivers direct programming to thousands of young people each year—through residential programs, virtual classes and outreach—and that the requested capital and operating funds would expand capacity for mentored research, professional development in computer science and STEM, and summer technical‑college camps.

Key points presented to the subcommittee: - Scope and reach: Dorsal said the program impacts "almost over 10,000 students" on an annual basis through residential, virtual and outreach programs. - Capital: the school requested $20,000,000 for an initial building; Dorsal clarified the $20 million figure refers to architectural and engineering (A&E) costs in two‑year‑old estimates and is tied to a master plan with phased construction. - Summer camps and outreach: the school asked to expand a four‑day middle‑school summer camp program from 10 to 16 technical‑college campuses, hiring about 100 local faculty and staff for the summer and increasing capacity for rising sixth through eighth graders. - Staffing/outreach: a request to fund two instructor FTEs (12‑month salaries cited) to deliver third‑through‑tenth‑grade K–10 outreach programs and to serve as the K–12 partner for a statewide initiative named SC Nexus. - Operating: funding to cover step increases for teachers and other continuing operating expenses; the speaker said the school is not requesting additional FTE headcount beyond budgeted positions in most requests but asked for funding to convert residual fractional FTEs into full positions where appropriate.

Dorsal described the school’s research program as a signature element—six weeks of mentored research that places many students in university labs—and said expansion would support more students participating in graduate‑level research experiences and faculty development in AI, data science and cybersecurity.

Ending: Leaders asked the subcommittee to consider the capital and operating requests in the context of a multi‑phase master plan; Dorsal said the institution’s foundation would participate in a capital campaign if state funding moved forward and that the foundation has capacity to match or supplement state support.