ANDERSON — Two dads are squaring off for the Anderson School District 5 seat, seeing whether experience or new ideas on funding will win out on Nov. 4.

Chuck Anderson, a four-year school board veteran, is facing political newcomer, Tim Borsum, for the District 5, Area 7 seat. Both have children in elementary schools within the district and they say they have a vested interest in making the district’s schools better.

With the voters’ recent passing of the $140 million bond that will pay for the construction of three new schools in the district, some tough decisions will have to made on drawing district lines. Anderson said he wants to be part of those decisions and that his experience is needed in that process.

“Whenever you build a new school, you have to rezone the district and those are always difficult decisions – determining where to put those lines,” Anderson said.

He also said his intimate knowledge of the board’s finances would help the district in the struggle with balancing the budget as revenues shift from a property tax base to a sales tax base.

Borsum, however, said his ability to see things from a fresh perspective would be valuable on the board. As a businessman, he said he would bring an ability to prioritize the district’s needs according to the money on hand.

His knowledge of construction could help the district with cost-savings in their upcoming building projects. And Borsum said he could think outside the box when trying to make up for budget shortfalls.

“For example, the Pickens County School District is selling its used cooking oil for about $800,000 a year,” Borsum said. “It will be used to make biodiesel.”

Another way to save, he said, is by conducting energy audits on all of the district’s facilities.