School starts Monday in Richmond and Columbia counties, and officials with both school systems still are interviewing candidates to fill vacant teaching positions.

One special education position and 13 elementary school positions are open in Richmond County. The school system also needs to fill three middle school and four high school positions.

Louis Svehla, a spokesman for the Richmond County school system, said substitute teachers, many of whom are retired teachers, will fill the spots until permanent teachers are hired.

Columbia County is searching for two special education teachers, which include one spot at Greenbrier Middle School and a part-time art teacher at Bel Air Elementary School.

"We're hoping that we don't get any last-minute defections" because of spouses' job transfers, said Anthony Wright, the Columbia County school system human resources executive director.

He also said two kindergarten teachers have been transferred from one school to another. A kindergarten class was eliminated at North Columbia and Euchee Creek elementary schools because of enrollment, Mr. Wright said, and River Ridge and Lewiston elementary schools added a kindergarten class each.

Mr. Svehla and Mr. Wright said it is unclear at this point how Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposal to withhold funding from state school systems would affect operations.

Last week, Mr. Perdue announced plans to defer $1.6 billion in total spending by withholding 6 percent of state funding for all agencies, including 2 percent of state funding from K-12 school systems.

About $3.3 million would be withheld from Richmond County schools and more than $2 million would be withheld from Columbia County schools.

"I can't even hazard a guess as to what that will do to us," Mr. Wright said.

However, he said the school system has little room to maneuver in its hiring because of required student-teacher ratios. Mr. Svehla agreed.

"We are going to continue to hire and fill positions as if that did not occur. These positions were already in the budget," Mr. Svehla said.

Based on enrollment projections, Richmond County has eliminated 17 unfilled teaching positions.

Joyce Stanley, the Aiken County Schools human resources director, said the school system is looking for a math teacher and a social studies teacher at Leavelle McCampbell Middle School and a part-time music instructor at North Augusta High School.

She said she hopes to have the positions filled by the time school starts Aug. 18.

Shawn Clinkscales, the director of human resources for the Edgefield County schools, said the school system has one vacancy for a math teacher at Strom Thurmond High School.

School starts in Edgefield County on Aug. 19.