Category: Schools

COLUMBIA (Jan. 12, 2017) – Because of the increasing difficulty in recruiting and retaining school bus drivers, last week the Richland Two Board of Trustees approved an incentive package that awards bonuses to the District’s bus drivers based on performance, and adds days to drivers’ contracts for professional development and training.

The move comes on the heals of an unusually high number of problems this year from bus shortages, driver shortages and mechanical issues resulting from an aging bus fleet, District Superintendent Debbie Hamm said in a statement released by the District.

“We are working diligently to find solutions to the issues and regret the inconveniences our families face due to the delays and changes to bus routes,” Hamm said.

“While we may not have much control over the age and number of buses provided to us by the state, we can make sure our bus drivers know they are a valuable part of the Richland Two Family and play an important role in supporting the mission of our district,” Board Chairman James Manning said.

During a press conference outside the State House on Monday, S.C. schools Superintendent Molly Spearman said the bus shortage is statewide and asked the Legislature for $95,000 to buy 1,000 new buses. The state’s plan to phase out older buses is not working, she said. Because some of the buses are nearly 30 years old, there are concerns about reliability, safety and the cost to tax payers to provide maintenance and fuel needed to keep the aging fleet going.

“School buses have gone to the bottom of the (Legislature’s) list” while setting spending priorities, Spearman said.

A District spokesperson said that Richland Two transports 14,000 students over 581 routes each day, beginning with the pick-up and drop-off of middle school students, then elementary school students and, last, high school students. The buses also provide service for a wide range of extracurricular activities including sports games, said District Two Superintendent Debbie Hamm.

The District has approved pay increases for bus drivers for the past two years and will soon evaluate new bus routing software to help improve efficiency. Hamm said transportation administrators post information daily to the Districts mobile app regarding delayed pick-up and drop-off times.

Anyone interested in driving a bus for Richland Two can complete an online application at richland2.org or call Dennis Jones at 803-736-3774.

 

WINNSBORO (Jan. 12, 2017) – During public comment time at the December School Board meeting, parent Thomas Armstrong raised the question of how many head coaches in the Fairfield County School District are not certified. While he suggested to the Board that none are certified, he later backed off that assessment in a follow-up interview with The Voice, saying there may be as many as five who are not certified and that at least two head coaches are not college graduates.

“It’s a sad day when we can’t hire certified coaches in Fairfield County with the money we are paying,” Armstrong said. He challenged the Board to be sure they are doing their due diligence; to be sure they are getting the best their money can pay for.

“I’m told that in the old days we had certified coaches. We’ve got to raise the bar when it comes to our kids. They’re all we’ve got,” he said.

Armstrong said he had “praise for the accomplishments we’ve made with Dr. Green . . . and I, too, want to see us continue to grow. But when we employ people,” Armstrong said, “I want the best for our kids. We need to educate the whole child. And when it comes to sports, we can’t cheat our kids.”

Armstrong also addressed the Board on several issues of coaches’ accountability and brought up what he said is an unwritten policy in the District to close (sports) practice sessions to parents.

“Now, parents can go into the classroom in Fairfield County, but we close our practices to parents. What’s going on in practices that parents can’t see?” Armstrong asked.

With that, Board Chairman Beth Reid (District 7) rapped her gavel, and Armstrong sat down.

Asked later about Armstrong’s assertions, Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green confirmed that several coaches are not certified and that some are not college graduates.

“The varsity boys’ baseball coach, boys’ track coach, girls’ track coach, wrestling and cross country coaches are all certified,” Green wrote in an email to The Voice. “I can confirm that, to my knowledge, we do have some that have not completed their degree requirements. As a district, we continue to support our classified staff members that are interested in eventually becoming certified, and (we are) proud to celebrate those that achieve that milestone.”

Evaluation of Superintendent

During Board business that followed, Reid said she handed out forms to Board members during an executive session prior to the public meeting that members were to complete for the purpose of the annual evaluation of the Superintendent.

“We went over the five components of the evaluation – engagement, achievement, leadership, learning environment and fiscal management,” Reid said. Green presented his own validation of his achievements in the five areas in executive session, she said. Reid asked Board members to complete their evaluation forms during the public meeting and return them to her at the end of the evening for compilation. Reid said she would announce the results of the evaluation at a later date.

Beta Club Trip

The Board approved unanimously a trip for the High School Beta Club to Myrtle Beach on Feb. 10 for a workshop. Green said the Middle School Beta Club would not be going to Myrtle Beach this year, but to Berry Island. When asked by Paula Hartman (District 2) if the Middle School students would be involved in a Beta Club competition at Berry Island as they had been the previous year at Myrtle Beach, Green said he was not sure.

Green noted that the students are required to pay a $50 non-refundable trip deposit as an incentive not to back out at the last minute. Annie McDaniel (District 4) amended the motion to provide for the $50 deposits to be refunded to those students who actually take the trip. The motion passed unanimously.

Employee Incentive

Green recommended a $100 Christmas incentive for all fulltime and permanent part-time employees, for a total cost to the District of $65,000 which, he said, had been budgeted for the 2016-17 school year.

Board member Sylvia Harrison (District 1) suggested doubling that amount to $200 for a total of $130,000.

Board member Rev. Carl Jackson (District 5) had some advice for his fellow Board members in this regard.

“As long as we don’t set a precedent that will be expected in the future,” Jackson said. “This is a one-time deal for this particular year. We don’t have a windfall every year. If they expect $200 next year and we don’t give it, they may be a little disgruntled.”

The $200 Christmas incentive passed 6-1. Hartman was the lone dissenter, saying the extra amount had not been budgeted.

Reid said the Board will meet at the District Office in January and will, at that time, set a date for the annual Board retreat.

 

BLYTHEWOOD – During the Nov. 15 School Board meeting, Superintendent J.R. Green discussed his ongoing plans to construct teacher housing in Fairfield County and called on the Board to establish an Educational Foundation that, he told the Board previously, would benefit a teacher housing initiative in Fairfield County.

At last week’s meeting, Green and Board member William Frick (District 6) talked about that benefit in terms of financing, spending about a half hour on a detailed report on how an apartment complex for teachers in North Carolina was financed at zero interest through an Educational Foundation.

It appeared to be a snapshot of what could be done in Fairfield County and, at the end of the meeting, the Board voted 5-2 to establish the Educational Foundation. However, in an interview with The Voice earlier this week, Green said the zero-interest financing that made the North Carolina teacher housing financing possible is not available to the Fairfield County School District.

During the meeting, Green reported that he and four Board members – Silvia Harrison (District 1), Henry Miller (District 2), the Rev. Carl Jackson Jr. (District 5) and Frick – traveled to Hertford, N.C. earlier this month to tour the apartment complex and find out more about the project and the financing.

But Green was not specific that the type of financing used for the N.C. teacher housing could not be used for a teacher housing initiative in S.C.

Frick explained the N.C. housing project’s financing process. He said it was not acquired by the Hertford School District, but by an Educational Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable corporation, that is independent of the Hertford School District’s Board of Trustees. The Educational Foundation’s Board acquired the zero-interest financing from the N.C. State Employee Credit Union, which routed the funding through its own special foundation set up for the purpose of supporting such projects, Frick said.

According to newspaper reports about the financing of the N.C. project, the Credit Union’s own foundation (not the Educational Foundation) holds the lien until the loan is repaid. The loan payments are made by the Education Foundation Board from rent it collects from the tenants.

“The property the N.C. housing project sits on is owned by the school district, which rents it to the Educational Foundation for $1 per year,” Frick added, saying the school district pays the Educational Foundation $20,000 a year to manage and oversee the day-to-day operation of the housing project, including interviewing the housing applicants, collecting rent and calling the plumber for emergencies.

Green said the Fairfield School District owns 90 acres between the District office and the high school and that if the teacher housing project is built there, only three or four of those acres would be used.

Both Miller and Jackson said they were impressed with the N.C. project, noting that it was within walking distance of one of the schools.

Frick said that another benefit of the Educational Foundation is that people who wish to make donations to the school district might be more encouraged to do so through the foundation.

Annie McDaniel (District 4) asked how the chairman of the Hertford Educational Foundation Board was selected.

Green said he was not sure, but guessed that, “the chair was appointed by some people affiliated with the (School) District and some people affiliated with the Foundation.”

Green told the Board that he would want to appoint the Foundation’s Board members. He later told The Voice that the Board members will then elect their chairman and other officers.

McDaniel also asked about the cost of applying for a 501(c)3 corporation.

Green said the Fairfield County School Board would pay the approximately $1,000 cost, which would include attorney’s fees, for the Educational Foundation to apply for 501(c)3 status.

When asked by McDaniel what role the School Board would play in the Educational Foundation, Green said it would have no role.

Although discussion about the zero-interest financing for teacher housing in N.C. was lengthy, Green did not actually say that financing was being considered for Fairfield County teacher housing, nor did he identify another source of financing he might seek.

The Board voted 5-2 to establish the Educational Foundation. McDaniel and Hartman voted against the measure.

“I support an Education Foundation for Fairfield County School District, but there are a lot of questions that should be answered before we move forward to establish it,” McDaniel said.

Earlier this week, The Voice asked Green if he was planning to seek the zero-interest type of credit union financing used in N.C. since that was not made clear at the meeting.

“No. I am looking to do conventional financing through a traditional financial institution,” Green said.

Green told The Voice that the N.C. financing package for the teacher apartment complex in Hertford is “very unique” and not available to the Fairfield School District or in S.C.

“That situation in North Carolina is something that that particular credit union is doing to help transform education in their community. They are not doing it as a business to make a profit,” Green said.

Asked what the relationship would be between the School District and the Educational Foundation, Green said they would be two separate entities.

“The School District’s Board establishes the Foundation, but after that, the District has no oversight or control over the Foundation,” Green said, noting that the Foundation would obtain the financing and repay it to the loan institution out of the rental revenue. He said that, like any housing financing, the housing complex would be the collateral for the loan.

Asked if Educational Foundations in S.C. can finance construction projects, Green said he thinks they can but did not know for sure. He said he would look in to it.

Green said he was not familiar with any school districts (in S.C.) that have secured financing (like N. C.’s) through an Educational Foundation to construct teacher housing.

“The circumstances are different here. It’s just not available in South Carolina,” he said.

Green said the District’s attorneys are moving forward to set up the Educational Foundation for Fairfield County.

Barbara Ball contributed to this story.

 

WINNSBORO (Nov. 3, 2016) – When the Fairfield County School Board was asked last week to once again approve out-of-state and overnight student trips, Board member William Frick (District 6), got right to the point.

“As we typically have, just to clarify, are we approving trips listed or are we approving a trip to be funded?” Frick asked.

“The Board has a policy that it must approve all overnight and out-of-state trips,” Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green said. “So what we are asking the Board to do is just approve the trips and not necessarily to provide any funding. This does not imply any request to the Board to approve any funding.”

Green said, however, that the money for some trips would be raised by students and funds for other trips are already approved as part of the individual schools’ budgets. Of the 14 trips approved by the Board, trips that students would have to raise their own funds for included:

• A trip for the high school marching band to Ahoskie, N.C., for a band competition, with a projected cost of $3,700 or $25 per student;

• A trip to the Bahamas for the District Honors and Fairfield Middle School choruses to perform on Carnival’s “Rock the Boat Cruise,” with a total projected cost of $18,150 or $605 per student;

• A science trip for Fairfield Magnet School of Math and Science fifth- and sixth-grade students to John’s Island, with a projected cost of $6,800 or about $50 per student.

The trips already funded though the individual school budgets, at a zero cost to the students, included a trip to Asheville, N.C., for the elementary Gifted & Talented program, and annual Junior Beta Club trips to Myrtle Beach for the four elementary schools and Fairfield Middle School.

The trips were approved 5-1 with Board member Paula Hartman (District 2) opposed. The Rev. Carl Jackson Jr., (District 5), was not present.

Education Foundation Tabled

Green also asked the Board to approve moving forward to establish a non-profit educational foundation for the District’s schools. Green said he had some conversations with financial institutions concerning his teacher housing proposal, and those institutions said a non-profit foundation would benefit the housing initiative. He also noted that all the districts surrounding Fairfield already have a non-profit educational foundation.

“It puts us in a better position to go forward with the housing initiative, but even outside of the housing initiative, it gives us the ability to receive donations from donors and individuals in the community who can receive a tax advantage,” Green said.

“What does ‘move forward’ mean?” Frick asked. “(Does it mean) we explore before we agree to this, or does it mean it’s going to happen?

“‘Moving forward’ means I will ask the attorneys to file the paperwork to establish the foundation,” Green said.

Frick said he was a little hesitant to agree to a foundation right now when he did not have a lot of experience with it.

“I would like the opportunity to explore this a little bit . . . and then we could move forward with it in November once the Board has more information,” Frick said.

The Board agreed 6-0 to table the matter.

Student Records Policy

The Board gave a second and final reading to revisions of the Student Records policy and administrative rule to define which should be designated for the District’s directory information (information that can be given out without a parent’s release) and which information would require a parent’s release.

Green said he wanted to clarify why the policy revision was made. He said it was because technology has changed so much that when information is subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), anyone can file an FOIA request and get that information.

The motion to approve the amended policy was approved 6-0.

Change in School Calendar

Green asked the Board to approve changes in the academic calendar to make up the three days the county schools were closed during Hurricane Matthew. The make-up days will be Oct. 21, 2016 and Jan. 3 and Feb. 20, 2017.

Next week: Board votes to move a $2.2 million surplus from last fiscal year into Capital Projects account.