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Category: Schools

  • District charges $338 for FOIA records

    WINNSBORO – It will cost $338 before the Fairfield County School District will disclose expense records from the superintendent’s discretionary budget, which one board member characterized as a sort of ‘slush fund.’

    It’s from the superintendent’s account, also referred to as the superintendent’s contingency fund, that the district quietly paid for costly, out-of-state trips for the Griffin Bow Tie Club.

    Exactly how much is spent on the student groups and other things remains a mystery.

    In a letter to The Voice, Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green said the newspaper would have to pay an $84.50 deposit before the district would even process the request.

    “This District will provide you with copies of the requested information upon receipt of an appropriate deposit, as authorized by the FOIA,” Green wrote on Oct. 21. “Upon receipt of the deposit, the District will undertake the work necessary to respond to your request.”

    Green’s response came 10 business days after The Voice’s request, the maximum allowed under state law.

    The Voice contested the $338 charge in a reply sent Oct. 27, noting that state law allows public bodies to waive or reduce fees when “the agency determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefitting the general public.”

    The district took another 10 business days to respond to The Voice’s reply, saying it would not reconsider the $338 fee.

    Jay Bender, an attorney with the S.C. Press Association, of which The Voice is a member, said when public bodies slow walk public record requests, they’re sending a message that they want taxpayers kept in the dark about government activity.

    “It says this district does not want constituents to know how it’s spending its money,” Bender said. “They’re going to drag it out as long as they possibly can and set the charges as high as they possibly can to dissuade people from finding out actually what goes on.”

    Bender also challenged the legitimacy of the district’s charges. He said it shouldn’t take much effort or paperwork to provide credit card statements, cancelled checks or other documents specifying how the district spends taxpayer money.

    State law allows the public to review records at no cost. The intent is to help information seekers mitigate costs by identifying specific records to reproduce.

    Green has not responded to multiple requests from The Voice to inspect documents showing how money is spent from the superintendent’s discretionary account.

    “The law is clear. You’re entitled to see information taken in any account or voucher, so unless they have some obscure accounting system, you should be able to look at checks written on that fund,” Bender said. “And it should be itemized with respect to that fund. It shouldn’t [cost] anything to look at it.”

    The district’s obfuscation of financial records isn’t limited to the general public or press.

    Board Trustee Paula Hartman said she’s tried unsuccessfully for years to shed light on how the superintendent spends discretionary funds. She noted concerns over transparency in Dr. Green’s annual evaluation earlier this month.

    In June 2017, she and former trustee Annie McDaniel quizzed Dr. Green and other district officials about how superintendent discretionary funds are spent, but never received a detailed answer.

    “Quite a few years back I asked for that,” Hartman said. “He (Green) had told us he would let us know what was spent out of there each year and he hasn’t done that.”

    Green eventually acknowledged the fund does pay for trips for student clubs, such as the Griffin Bow Tie Club and the Elite Ladies of Fairfield County School District.

    The Voice requested more detailed expenses from the superintendent’s discretionary fund because it’s not itemized within the school district budget.

    In 2018-2019, the school board budgeted $404,874 for the superintendent’s office, but the budget doesn’t break out the discretionary fund. The 2017-2018 budget also doesn’t itemize the fund.

    Previous budgets between 2012-2013 and 2016-2017 were not available because links to those documents on the district’s website are broken. A district office representative couldn’t be reached before press time because the school district is on winter break until Jan. 3, according to the district’s website.

    Hartman asked about the account again this past June, specifically asking how much money was spent to send members of the Griffin Bow Tie Club to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Green couldn’t say, and six months later, an accounting of the trip has not been provided.

    Hartman also asked Green why the multi-day trip had not come before the board for approval as required by board policy.

    “I’d have to go back and check. It very well could’ve been an oversight,” Green said at the June meeting.

    “At a later meeting he confirmed that the trip had not been presented to the board for approval,” Hartman told The Voice. “We actually were not even informed that he was taking them to Kentucky, which is against board policy.”

    It’s also unclear how the Churchill Downs trip aligned with learning standards mapped out by the S.C. Department of Education. That information was not available since Green did not request board approval for the trip.

  • Community responds to Barclay School

    School’s Funding Has Been Cut, Not Delayed

    RIDGEWAY – While the Barclay School is not out of the woods financially, the head of the school, Gillian Barclay-Smith, said it seems like everyone associated with the school as well as complete strangers, are trying to move mountains to keep the school open after she learned two weeks ago that an IRS rule change had impacted a major non-profit funding source for the school.

    “It seems everyone has read about our plight and they want to help,” Barclay-Smith said. “It’s been overwhelming. We’ve received a lot of small donations, our landlord, MEKRA-Lang, has given us free rent for 2020, and others have done other things to help us in other ways. One of our parents cleaned up our website and revamped our online presence, literally overnight, which has actually helped our fundraising effort tremendously. So far, we have raised about $20,000 of the $50,000 we need to stay open until Christmas.”

    But that’s not all the school needs. It must have $150,000 to stay open until the end of the school year. But the $50,000 will give us time to put together a new funding plan for the future, according to Barclay-Smith.

    “One of our students’ parents who actually has a background and expertise in fundraising, is giving us invaluable help and advice,” Barclay-Smith said. “It’s literally round-the-clock work for all of us right now just to raise the $50,000. But we just have to stay open.”

    Barclay-Smith said some local media outlets have erroneously reported that the school’s funding is merely delayed.

    “That is not correct,” she said. “We will no longer get that funding. It’s that simple.”

    Begun more than a decade ago in a house on the campus of Columbia College, the Barclay School moved five years ago to Ridgeway. She said the town has welcomed the children with open arms.

    “We work with all children who learn differently. So, some of our children are on the autism spectrum, we have children with Down [Syndrome], we have children who struggle with reading and writing, we have children who struggle with anxiety. We are a hodgepodge of diversity and glad to be so,” Barclay-Smith said.

    She describes the school as a community where the children celebrate each other’s victories, where there’s no homework or “drill and grill” instruction, where chores and social graces are taught along with academics. There’s a farm-like collection of class pets, and the calendar is broken up with frequent field trips and downtown shopping excursions.

    Another important aspect of their learning is community service. The children participate by helping with Meals on Wheels, making cards, decorating downtown, and anything else that they can do to learn how to give back.

    “We’re a very different kind of school. We focus very much on what’s called strength-based learning, which basically flips the paradigm upside-down. Instead of focusing on everything we can’t do,” Barclay-Smith said, “we’re way more interested in what you can do. Where’s your passion? Where’s your love? For a lot of our children it’s music, it’s the arts, it’s drama. We try to find the children’s strengths, and it’s truly metamorphosing when they come here.

    “There is a great need for schools like ours,” Barclay-Smith said. “These children are special. They learn here and they love it here. When they left school this week for Christmas break, they all said to us, ‘we’ll see you after Christmas!’

    “And I truly hope they do,” Barclay-Smith said.

    Debra McCown Thomas contributed to this story.

  • Barclay School looking for Christmas miracle

    School Must Raise $50K by Dec. 25 to Stay Open
    The students at Barclay School celebrate the joys of the season despite the worry that their school may close.

    RIDGEWAY – After an IRS rule change impacted a major nonprofit funding source, a special needs school in Ridgeway is hoping for a Christmas miracle to help keep its doors open in 2020.

    The Barclay School, which currently serves 16 special needs children, has become a valued part of the community in the last few years as it has grown, says Gillian Barclay-Smith, head and founder of the school.

    Begun more than a decade ago in a house on the campus of Columbia College, it moved five years ago to Ridgeway, a town of about 300, which she says has welcomed the children with open arms.

    “We work with all children who learn differently. So, some of our children are on the autism spectrum, we have children with Down [Syndrome], we have children who struggle with reading and writing, we have children who struggle with anxiety. We are a hodgepodge of diversity and glad to be so,” says Barclay-Smith.

    “It sounds really trite, but we really are a family; the feel here is different. We meet the children where they are and not where the calendar says that they probably should be.”

    The school’s funding uncertainty going into the new year has a lot to do with a change to IRS rules for tax deductions disbursed through programs like South Carolina’s Exceptional SC, the nonprofit charged with distributing funds donated by taxpayers through an education-focused tax credit program.

    The organization currently helps to fund 142 special needs schools across the state, with funding distributed through a formula based on enrollment. At the Barclay School, this funding supplements the revenue generated by tuition that’s charged on a sliding scale.

    “I love this program because it redirects tax dollars to do something government is not very good at – these kids. It’s not that they can’t learn; they just learn differently,” says Chad Connelly, executive director of Exceptional SC.

    “Once you get a program in place like ours [for] five or six years, they come to count on it – and when something like this happens, what the heck do you do? It puts everybody in a bad fix.”

    The IRS rule change, he says, capped the amount an individual donors can claim a federal tax deduction for at $10,000. So while donors still receive a dollar-for-dollar match in state tax credits at a higher amount, the limit on federal deductions discourages larger contributions.

    The limit does not apply to corporate donors, but corporate taxes are low in South Carolina, he says – so limiting individual donors has cost the program big time. Last year, Exceptional SC raised $17.5 million in a day and a half; this year it raised just $6 million – and that took six months.

    Barclay-Smith says that for a small school like hers, funding received through the program is a big deal. Now, she says, they need to raise $150,000 to get through the end of the school year – $50,000 of that is needed by Dec. 25 to stay open – which will also buy time to put together a new funding plan for the future.

    The community response so far has given her hope in this tiny town, whose iconic main street is fit for a Hallmark movie.

    When the school’s landlord MEKRA Lang North America – a major industrial employer in Ridgeway – heard what had happened, they offered a valuable Christmas gift – free rent in 2020.

    Small donations have started to trickle in from the community: a $300 check from a town community fund, a local tea shop’s pledge to host a fundraiser, smaller donations from individuals giving what they can. It’s a good start – but it’s still a big hole to fill. 

    “People tell me Ridgeway is Mayberry. It’s an amazing little place. And if we could run on kindness, we wouldn’t have a problem,” she says.

    But it takes more than love from the community to cover bills and payrolls taxes. It takes dollars. And while they’ve set up a donation page (savebarclay.com) and parents are mobilizing to help raise funds, it’s a big task. They’re hoping more people will join in the effort.

    For Barclay-Smith, who herself struggled with learning issues as a child, education is a lifelong passion. The Barclay School began 11 years ago with a handful of parents who asked Barclay to work with their children using her holistic teaching methods.

    Her own story is an interesting one. After failing a high-stakes test as a middle-school student in her native England, she was sent to a school for low-performing students. But that school taught differently, and the next time testing came around, she went from failure to prodigy overnight.

    “I knew that I hadn’t changed,” she says. “The only thing that had changed was the approach in how I was taught.”

    She went on to earn a master’s degree in Germany and a Ph.D. in education from the University of South Carolina. At the Barclay School, she says, the teachers understand their students because they too have struggled with issues like dyslexia and ADHD.

    In addition to the school’s five full-time and two part-time teachers, they also rely upon two employees provided by Goodwill, two volunteer art teachers, help from college students studying to become teachers, and countless community groups that help with everything from lessons on gardening to talks on practical life-skills topics to weekly trips to the library.

    Barclay-Smith describes the school as a community where the children celebrate each other’s victories, where there’s no homework or “drill and grill” instruction, where chores and social graces are taught along with academics. There’s a farm-like collection of class pets, and the calendar is broken up with frequent field trips and downtown shopping excursions.

    Another important aspect of their learning is community service. The children participate by helping with Meals on Wheels, making cards, decorating downtown, and anything else that they can do to learn how to give back.

    “We’re a very different kind of school. We focus very much on what’s called strength-based learning, which basically flips the paradigm upside-down. Instead of focusing on everything we can’t do,” Barclay-Smith says, “we’re way more interested in what you can do. Where’s your passion? Where’s your love? For a lot of our children it’s music, it’s the arts, it’s drama. We try to find the children’s strengths, and it’s truly metamorphosing when they come here.”

    In the end, successful education is not about money, Barclay says. It’s about mindset. As a small, independent school, they’ve always operated on a shoestring budget. Still, it takes something.

    “Pretty much every desk, every chair, every book in this building was given to us or we went through Goodwill or we dug it out,” she says. “We’ve got this far on string, so let’s see if we can keep going.”

    To make a donation, go to savebarclay.com or call 803-629-6318.

  • USC launches initiative to benefit FCSD

    University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen, center, and his wife Shelly, arrive at the Fairifeld County School District office Wednesday morning prior to announcing the University’s ALL4SC initiative and partnership with Fairfield County School District. USC Research Professor Barnett Berry, left, who is heading up the initiative, USC College of Education Dean Jon Pedersen and Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green also spoke at the event. | Barbara Ball

    WINNSBORO – University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen stopped in Winnsboro during his ‘bus tour’ of South Carolina Wednesday morning to announce the launch of a University initiative, the Accelerator for Learning and Leadership for South Carolina (ALL4SC). Caslen also announced that ALL4SC is partnering its first efforts with the Fairfield County School District.

    Caslen said ALL4SC is an outreach initiative with the purpose of bringing university researchers together with community and business leaders, teachers, students and lawmakers to create a strategy to close achievement and opportunity gaps for students in the Fairfield Community and eventually in other areas of the state.

    A statement issued by the University prior to the meeting noted that a growing number of communities in South Carolina are losing industries and jobs as well as facing a dire teacher shortage. Student performance lags behind the national average. Support services that address the academic, physical and social well-being of children and their families are often underutilized.

    ALL4SC is focused on changing this trajectory, Caslen said during remarks before a group of Fairfield County students, media and members of the community gathered at the district office for the announcement. Vernon Kennedy, Sr., the executive director of Fairfield Behavioral Health Services, USC College of Education Dean Jon Pedersen, USC Research Professor Barnett Berry and Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green were also on hand to address the group.

    According to Berry, ALL4SC will focus on community-based schooling that integrates the academic, social and health needs of students; creative approaches to preparing and supporting educators; leadership development that spurs entrepreneurship in public education and evidence-based storytelling to inform and engage policymakers, parents and community leaders

    Because the meeting was still in progress at press time Wednesday morning, details of the ALL4SC initiative in conjunction with the Fairfield School District will appear in the Nov. 27 issue of The Voice.

  • Board’s Promise vote leaves some unfunded

    Green: School Board will revote Promise funding issue next month

    WINNSBORO – All Fairfield County high school graduates are not currently able to receive free college tuition funds contributed by the Fairfield County School District as promised last summer under the newly minted Promise Program.

    A school board vote last week left Promise Program tuition funding for private, charter and home schoolers to the county.

    As initially conceived, the Promise Program called for the school district and county council each to pledge $75,000 annually, or $150,000 altogether, to the program administrated by Midlands Technical College.

    In September, Green announced that the district moved forward with its version of the Promise Program, noting that 24 students made up the initial group of students receiving free tuition.

    While the school district opted for lump sum payments to Midlands Tech, some council members, saying they desired greater accountability, preferred to be billed after qualifying students successfully met eligibility requirements.

    Thus, the school district and county ended up signing separate Memorandums of Understanding agreements with Midlands Tech. There was no indication in either agreement, however, that any of the designated graduates would not be allowed to draw funds from both contributors.

    Last week, during its regular monthly board meeting, the Fairfield County School District board of trustees voted 6-1, with trustee Paula Hartman against, to revise its Memorandum of Understanding. One of the revisions eliminated previously eligible graduates of private schools, charter schools and home schools from receiving tuition from the portion of the Promise Program funded by the Fairfield County School District.

    The revised agreement states, under Student Eligibility: “Must be a Fairfield County resident with a valid high school diploma (or GED) from Fairfield County School District,” with no mention of funding for the private, charter and homeschooled students.

    The change in the district’s funding contradicts initial promises from District Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green that graduates of private, public and home schools as well as Fairfield County School District graduates (and with GEDs) would be eligible for free tuition to attend Midlands Technical College.

    Asked by The Voice why the district had decided to reserve its funds for Fairfield County School District students, Green replied via email, “The Promise Initiative still accommodates charter school, home school, and private school students in the county.  As you know there are now two separate agreements with MTC.  One with the county and one with the school district.  Funding for those students is covered in the county MOU.”

    While those students would be eligible for funds contributed to the program by county council, the contract signed by the county and submitted in July to Midlands Tech has not yet been ratified by Midlands Tech. Without that ratification the county’s agreement is invalid, essentially leaving the private, charter and home schooled graduates currently with no Promise funding.

    When contacted on Monday, County Council Chairman Neil Robinson, County Administrator Jason Taylor, Headmaster of Richard Winn Academy (Kristen Chaison) and Midlands STEM Institute Principal Cynthia Prince said they were unaware of the revision in the district’s agreement.

    “I have not discussed that specific change with Dr. Green,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t aware that a change had occurred, but that’s the school district’s choice.”

    In addition, the county is still waiting on feedback and final signoff from Midlands Tech, Taylor said.

    Over the course of several email exchanges on Monday between The Voice and Green, he did not change his position on the revision.

    By Tuesday, however, Green told The Voice via email that the school district would revisit the MOU at the board’s next meeting which is set for Nov. 19, according to the district’s website.

    “I will present the Fairfield County School Board of Trustees with a revised MOU that includes home school, charter school and private school students from Fairfield County,” Green wrote.

    Endowment Option

    In addition to restricting who is eligible for free tuition, the district inserted verbiage into the MOU that alters the Fairfield Promise from a pure scholarship program to an endowment.

    Green said doing so creates tax benefits for businesses that may wish to contribute. It also allows the district to use interest earned to further subsidize the program.

    “We would use interest to help fund the program. Therefore you don’t need to count on a line item in the budget on a year-to-year basis,” he said.

    Under the new MOU, the district can make annual contributions of $75,000 for five years up to $350,000.

    “We have the option to continue contributing up to $75,000 a year. Or if the district decides somewhere between now and the conclusion of those five years, that they want to pay the balance of the $375,000, they have the option as well,” Green said. “That just gives the district flexibility to fund it differently.”

    The deal commits Midlands Tech to raising at least $125,000 over five years to augment the endowment. Midlands Tech is designated as the fiscal agent for the endowment.

    “An endowment provides for long-term sustainability as we strive to establish the Promise initiative to students who are in kindergarten now,” Green said. “We need to provide long term funding for those programs.”

    Midlands Tech must submit a report at the end of each academic term stating the name and number of recipients and “other reportable information (in compliance of applicable laws) that is agreed to by the district and the college,” the MOU states.

    Barbara Ball contributed to this story.

  • District’s report card mixed

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County elementary students did well in classroom testing last school year, but successes didn’t carry forward into middle and high school scores.

    Fairfield Magnet School for Math & Science and Kelly Miller Elementary both received “Excellent” ratings, the highest possible on the 2019 South Carolina report cards, which were released last week.

    Fairfield Middle and Fairfield Central High, however, struggled.

    Fairfield Middle School received an Unsatisfactory rating, earning just 22 of a possible 100 points. Only seven middle schools received the state’s worst rating, according to report card results.

    Fairfield High School received an Average rating, the same as last year, but the school’s score plunged from 57 to 51 points, placing it just one point shy of “Below Average.”

    Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green couldn’t be reached for comment.

    William Frick, chairman of the Fairfield County Board of Trustees, also couldn’t be reached.

    Behind the Ratings

    Since 2012, when Green became superintendent, the district has received an Average rating every year except in 2016 and 2017, when the state didn’t issue accountability ratings.

    The ratings returned after the report cards were revamped in 2018.

    Report cards grade schools based on these indicators: Academic Achievement, Preparing for Success, College & Career Readiness, Graduation Rate and Student Engagement. Varying weights are given to each category in calculating a school’s overall rating.

    Here’s a breakdown of how each school performed in 2019, with the 2018 rating in parentheses:

    Fairfield Magnet School for Math & Science – Excellent (Excellent 2018)

    Kelly Miller Elementary — Excellent (up from Good 2018)

    Geiger Elementary — Good (up from Average 2018)

    Fairfield Elementary — Average (up from Below Average 2018)

    McCrorey-Liston Elementary — Average (Average 2018)

    Fairfield Central High School — Average (Average 2018)

    Fairfield Middle — Unsatisfactory (down from Below Average 2018)

    Fairfield Middle

    Report card figures paint a grim picture behind Fairfield Middle’s unsatisfactory rating.

    On the SC Ready language arts exam, only 26.1 percent of students met or exceeded standards compared to 31.3 percent for the district and 45.4 percent in the state.

    Fairfield Middle struggled even more on the SC Ready math exam.

    Only 17.5 percent (69 of 395) met or exceeded the standard, less than half the district’s performance (35.8 percent) and also below the state average of 45.1 percent.

    Fairfield Middle’s prime instructional time fell four percentage points, from 89% to 84.9%. One in five students (20.9%) was chronically absent, while teacher attendance tumbled from 96.9% to 91.2%

    Student-teacher ratios rose to 16.8 to 1, up from 15.6 to 1, figures show.

    Teachers with advanced degrees dropped from 72.1% to 66.7% while teachers returning from the previous year plunged nearly 9% (81.1% to 72.5%).

    Fairfield Central

    Fairfield Central eked out an Average rating despite receiving Below Average ratings in the categories of Academic Achievement, Preparing for Success and College & Career Readiness subcategories.

    An Excellent rating on Student Engagement and Average rating for Graduation Rate (81%) saved Fairfield High from receiving an overall Below Average rating.

    Fairfield High students struggled on English and Math end of course tests, with less than half of 200 test takers earning at least a “C” on either exam.

    In Math, the drop in the number of Fairfield High students scoring “C” or better was profound – from 62.7% to 51%.

    English results declined as well, with the gap growing between Fairfield High and the state averages.

    The percentage of Fairfield students scoring “C” or better in English fell from 43.6% to 40.5%, while the state percentages rose from 53.9% to 56.3%.

    As with Fairfield Middle, Fairfield High experienced declines in teacher attendance, qualifications and retention, figures show.

    In 2019, Fairfield High staffed 54 teachers, down from 61 the previous year. The percentage of teachers with advanced degrees dropped from 68.9% to 59.3%

    Teachers on continuing contract fell from 63.9% to 57.4% while teachers returning from the previous year dropped from 80% to 77.8%

    District Level

    At the district level, teacher attendance fell from 96.1% to 93.3%, teachers on continuing contract fell from 63.2% to 58.7% and teachers with advanced degrees fell from 62% to 59.4%.

    Fairfield’s per pupil expenditures again led area schools at $17,780

    Fairfield Compensation

    Fairfield County average teacher salaries rose about 4.2 percent, from $49,288 to $51,363, from the 2017-2018 to 2018-2019 school years, according to report card data.

    However, the district’s percent of expenditures on teacher salaries dropped from 47.1% to 44.2%, data shows.

    Administrator salaries increased 1.77 percent, from $85,575 to $87,091.

    The district’s increases in teacher and administrator pay are less than the 5 percent raises that Green, the district’s superintendent, has received annually since 2015. His base pay is $182,287 plus benefits that bring his total to over $200,000.

    Green is contractually entitled to an automatic 5 percent raise every year provided he receives at least a Satisfactory rating on his annual evaluation.

    While the District’s overall ratings have remained at ‘Average’ during Green’s seven-year tenure in Fairfield, in December, the school board gave Green an ‘Exemplary’ rating and voted to extend his contract to 2024.

    Union

    For the second straight year under the revised report card system, none of Union County’s eight schools received an Unsatisfactory rating, despite the district resembling Fairfield both demographically and economically.

    Union’s average teacher pay was lowest among area districts at $46,611. Per pupil expenditures were $9,112, almost half of Fairfield’s.

    The district, however, reported two Below Average schools, up from only one in 2018.

    Four schools received Average ratings and one was rated Good. No Union County school received an Excellent rating.

    Kershaw (Note: Kershaw was accidentally left out of the story in the paper copy of the newspaper.)

    Kershaw County schools, which also had no unsatisfactory schools for the second year in a row, had the second highest average teacher salary in the area at $51,880. Per pupil expenditures were $9,034.

    However, two schools were rated as Below Average. Six schools received Average ratings while the district also had two Good and one Excellent school.

    Lancaster

    While four of the six school districts bordering Fairfield County had at least one school rated as Unsatisfactory on state report cards, only Lancaster reported two Unsatisfactory schools. Lancaster had none in 2018.

    Ten Lancaster schools, however, received either Good or Excellent ratings. Seven others were rated Average and two were Below Average.

    In 2018-2019, Lancaster teacher salaries rose about $1,200, from $49,413 to $50,657.

    Chester

    Chester County reported one Unsatisfactory school, down from three Unsatisfactory schools in 2018. Four schools received Average ratings while two others were rated as Good.

    Average teacher salaries remained virtually unchanged, creeping up to $49,309. Chester’s total per pupil expenditure was $10,767, highest among districts neighboring Fairfield, but well under Fairfield’s.

    Richland Two

    The area’s largest school district also turned in one of the strongest showings.

    Nearly two-thirds of Richland Two’s 39 schools received either Good (13) or Excellent (11) ratings. Another 13 schools received Average ratings.

    Richland Two only had one school rated Unsatisfactory and another was rated Below Average.

    The district had the highest average teacher salary at $52,149, slightly higher than last year’s average of $51,802.

    Newberry County

    Newberry County, which had no Unsatisfactory schools in 2018, had one school rated Unsatisfactory this year.

    Also in 2018-2019, the district had two schools rated Excellent, down from three last year. Five other schools received average ratings.

    Newberry had the second lowest average teacher salary in the area at $46,707, while the total per pupil expenditure was $10,696.

    To view the entire Report Card for South Carolina schools, go to: ed.sc.gov/data/report-cards/

  • Whitaker named FCSD’s top teacher

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County School District named its Teachers of the Year for the district’s eight schools as well as a District Teacher of the Year during the annual convocation.

    Crystal Whitaker, the Social Studies Department Chair at Fairfield Central High, was named the Fairfeld School District Teacher of the Year.

    Whitaker, who is in her eighth year of teaching – six of those at FCHS – teaches U. S. History and AP U.S. History

    The other seven schools in the district are being represented by their respective Teachers of the Year: Kerisha Camack (McCrory-Liston School of Technology), Kimberly DeReef (Fairfield Magnet School for Math & Science), Craig Jelks (Fairfield Middle School), Richard Johnson (Fairfield Career & Technology Center), Bryan Simmons (Kelly Miller Elementary School), Randall Sims (Fairfield Elementary School) and Lori Yarborough (Geiger Elementary School).

    Whitaker will be competing for the 2020 State Teacher of the Year.

    • Crystal Whitaker – Fairfield Central High School
    • Kerisha Camack – McCrorey-Liston School of Techology
    • Kimberly DeReef – Fairfield Magnet School for Math & Science
    • Craig Jelks – Fairfield Middle School
    • Richard Johnson – Fairfield Career & Technology Center
    • Bryan Simmons – Kelly Miller Elementary School
    • Randall Sims – Fairfield Elementary School
    • Lori Yarborough – Geiger Elementary School

  • R2 gives super generally high marks

    COLUMBIA – Superintendent Dr. Baron Davis received generally favorable scores on his annual evaluation, though one Richland Two board member marked Davis down in a few key categories. Two others were critical of the board majority’s decision to not allow board members to discuss a requirement that only a supermajority (5-2) of the board could dismiss Davis.

    Board trustee Lindsay Agostini gave Davis 2s and 3s on a 1-5 scale in categories assessing communication and employee retention, according to documents obtained by The Voice. 

    Agostini was the only board trustee submitting an individual evaluation. The other six board members evaluated Davis collectively. 

    On the joint evaluation, Davis received 4s and 5s in virtually every category, resulting in a total score of 139 points out of a possible 150. Davis received an overall “distinguished” rating.

    In a letter summarizing Davis’ performance, board chair James Manning lauded Davis for his professionalism and communication skills.

    “We appreciate your responsiveness to the board and the relationship you have developed with each board member,” the letter states. “You respond to our communications in a timely manner, and you take care of issues that are brought to your attention.”

    Agostini felt differently. 

    She rated Davis “2” out of “5” on a performance standard that says “the Superintendent works with the school board to develop and implement policies that define organizational expectations.” In the comments section, Agostini noted the presence of typos and grammatical errors.

    Agostini also gave Davis a “2” on “identifies, analyzes and resolves problems using effective problem-solving techniques.” She wrote “defensive” and “knee jerk reaction to support staff.”

    Davis was also marked down in teacher recruitment and retention efforts. “Not finding out why people are leaving,” Agostini wrote. She also added the phrase “sorority/fraternity,” public records show.

    At the last board meeting, trustees voted 5-2 to extend Davis’ contract another two years and award a 12.3 percent pay raise, a substantially greater raise than the 4 percent increase most teachers received in the state budget.

    The board also voted to increase Davis’ annual annuity contribution by 2.5 percent every year for five years, beginning in September 2020. The perks are provided he receives at least a “satisfactory” rating on future annual evaluations.

    Davis’ base pay is now $221,973, fifth highest in the state, according to public records.

    Trustees also inserted a clause that says the superintendent can only be dismissed by a supermajority (5-2) vote of the board, stoking pushback from some board members. They thought any vote to dismiss should be 4-3.

    Agostini and Monica Elkins-Johnson voted against the contract revisions on those grounds. Trustee Teresa Holmes also voiced concerns about the supermajority provision, but ultimately voted for the contract.

    Elkins-Johnson voiced additional concerns that “we were not given an opportunity to discuss this matter,” referencing the supermajority clause. She said the board majority would not pull that part of the contract out for a separate discussion.

    “Because the board will not allow us to pull one item out, I’m going to have to decline the entire contract,” Elkins-Johnson said. “I want to publicly apologize to you Dr. Davis because I support 75 percent of your contract.

    “There is only one item that I have an issue with and that is the super majority,” Elkins-Johnson continued. “Because the board has refused to allow us to pull that out, my vote tonight will be a no.”

    Board member Teresa Holmes also opposed the supermajority and voiced concern that the board wouldn’t permit a separate discussion on the clause, but ultimately voted for the contract.

    “As Dr. Elkins said, we could not pull that particular part out,” she said. “I am not in agreement with the five-vote contract. We have a vote for four for everything that we do.”

    Manning said there was ample opportunity to discuss the contract. The letter summarizing Davis’ performance states the board evaluation was discussed in executive sessions held on July 23, Aug. 6 and Aug. 13.

    “We did have the opportunity to discuss this as a board in executive session before coming to a final decision,” Manning said.

    “We did not have an opportunity as a board to discuss salary or concerns,” Elkins-Johnson responded. “We had an opportunity as a board to discuss our concerns only to the chair.”

    In a telephone interview with The Voice, Manning said supermajority clauses are not unprecedented in Richland Two, noting one was included in a proposed policy revision that the board considered in January.

    A proposed revision to Policy BD would’ve allowed the board, by supermajority vote, to strip a board member of their officer position “for cause.”

    Manning, Elkins-Johnson and Agostini voted for the policy revision, according to board documents.

    The vote failed, but not because of the supermajority clause. Some board members objected to ambiguity over the phrase “for cause.”

    The policy was introduced at a time when two trustees facing legal and ethics issues could have been impacted by the policy changes.

    Former board chair Amelia McKie owes nearly $57,000 in ethics fines for failing to file several campaign reports. A judgment has since been filed in Richland County Circuit Court.

    In January, Elkins-Johnson, then vice-chair of the board, was charged after an altercation following a board meeting. The case is pending.

  • Fairfield First Steps scores in SC’s top four

    WINNSBORO – There are only three school districts in the state whose five year olds are more ready for kindergarten than those in Fairfield County, according to the statewide First Steps Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) scores released in August.

    “It’s an indication for the county as a whole not just for our First Steps program or the school district,” Patti Wilkes, executive director of the county’s First Steps program, said. “Our goal, of course, is for every Fairfield County child to be ready for success when they start kindergarten.”

    According to the report, 49 percent of them are.

    Only preschoolers in Georgetown (50%), York 4 (55%) York 2 (51%) are more ready than those in Fairfield. Charleston, Lexington 3 and Fairfield all scored a 49 percent overall.

    The state funded program was introduced in South Carolina in 1999 and a First Steps office now exists in each of the state’s 46 counties. The school district offers K3 and K4 kindergartens throughout the district. The 2017-18 KRA reported Fairfield County was one of only 13 of the 46 state-wide First Steps programs that met or exceeded the state average.

    Wilkes said the KRA provides a snapshot of students’ abilities at the beginning of the five-year-old kindergarten school year in four domains: social foundations, language and literacy, mathematics and physical development and wellbeing. Students are scored according to their level of readiness – emerging readiness, approaching readiness and demonstrating readiness. (See KRA charts)

    While the First Steps offices in each county share the same goals, they use different methods to achieve those goals. Fairfield uses five programs that are designed to prepare children for a successful start to their school career.

     “Literacy is the number one indication for success in school,” Wilkes said.

    One program Wilkes uses to improve literacy is 1000 Books Before Kindergarten.

    “We go into the classroom, read to the students and give books to the classroom as well as to students to take home,” Wilkes said.

    Other programs, like Parents as Teachers and Countdown to Kindergarten focus on home visits to equip parents and caregivers with the confidence and competence to be their child’s first and best teacher.

    Because many of the children served in Fairfield live in poverty, First Steps makes some scholarships available to cover the costs of child care. Last year, Wilkes’ office provided 22 children with scholarship assistance so their parents could work or attend school.

    “To spark the love of reading, Fairfield County First Step distributed 6,614 free, age-appropriate books to 746 children last year.

    “If a child has any developmental delays, we try to address those before they enter five-year-old kindergarten. If children are not ready for kindergarten, we lose instruction time in the classroom,” Wilkes said.

    Wilkes says she uses programs that strengthen relationships, all kinds of relationships, but particularly between parent and child.

    “As part of our Countdown to Kindergarten program, we partner with the school district, United Way and get funds through the preschool development grant to hire all 5K teachers in the district to make six home visits to each participating student during the summer before they start school,” Wilkes said. “These visits incorporate a full curriculum of core subjects. Last summer we funded six teacher visits to each of 70 students.”

    “Our goal is to prepare these children to be successful in school,” Wilkes said. “That preparation starts early, but the parents have to buy in. We wish we could get to these children at birth. The parents have to see that success in school is their child’s way out of poverty.”

    Fairfield First Steps is located at 101 N. Congress Street, Suite 1, Winnsboro. For more information, contact Wilkes at 803-635-1590 or email pywilkes@truvista.net.

  • Teacher village hits a snag

    WINNSBORO – The proposed Teacher Village is still on summer break.

    Fairfield County Council has already passed two readings to award tax breaks to Gorelick Brothers, a North Carolina hedge fund, to build the proposed subdivision catering to Fairfield County teachers.

    But third reading remains on hold due to disagreements over inserting an indemnification clause, a sticking point with the county.

    The county wants indemnification to protect taxpayers from potential litigation, but is encountering resistance from Gorelick Brothers and the Fairfield County School District, which is heavily marketing the Teacher Village.

    The Teacher Village wasn’t on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting, but it was a hot topic.

     “In the end, after a year of effort, time and money, the other parties in this potential project have been unwilling to help the county mitigate and manage its associated risk,” Councilman Douglas Pauley said. “So don’t point the finger at the county.”

    Councilman Clarence Gilbert also lamented the apparent lack of cooperation on the indemnification issue. He noted that something as simple as a construction worker accident could expose the county legally.

    “It’s like a contractor telling me he’s going to build a $3,000 house and the only way he’s going to build that house is if I don’t take out insurance on that house,” Gilbert said.

    “It really kind of concerns me that the developer doesn’t want to work with us,” Gilbert continued. “In the nine months that I’ve been here on council, not once have we met with Gorelick Brothers. We have some questions and concerns that we want to ask them, but from what I gather they refuse to talk with us.”

    Clause is common

    County Administrator Jason Taylor said indemnification clauses protecting the county are common to any contract the county enters into.

    One time, when Providence Health and the county couldn’t agree on indemnification, Taylor said that as an alternative, Providence agreed to make annual payments into an escrow account. The account’s purpose is to cover county legal costs should litigation arise.

    Taylor said the county proposed a similar workaround for the Teacher Village, but Gorelick and the school district declined to participate.

     “In using these tax incentives for residential [development], it’s a little bit of a stretch of the law,” Taylor said. “Maybe in the end it will be fine, and we hope it will be fine, but right now it’s an unsettled issue legally. So there’s a little bit more risk for the council in that respect.”

    Developers have also asked for a seven-year tax abatement totaling about $600,000.

    Earlier, during public participation, Lake Wateree resident Jeff Morris spoke supportively of past proposals to include an indemnity clause.

    He also suggested if the Teacher Village doesn’t fill with teachers, tax abatements to Gorelick should prorate downward accordingly.

    “By the time the abatement period runs out, they’ve got 22 acres, a bunch of homes they can do with whatever they want,” Morris added. “The county should be careful about this, thoughtful about it.”

    The Teacher Village also drew two supporters to Monday’s meeting

    Winnsboro resident Shirley Green, who has previously spoken in support of the Teacher Village, urged the county to not let litigation become a roadblock to economic development and teacher recruitment.

    “Are we afraid to take a chance with someone else’s money? Are we afraid of failure or are we afraid of success?” Green asked. “Don’t let the fear of a lawsuit or failure as it’s known to hold you back from the opportunities for success.”

    Chanda Jefferson, a Fairfield County teacher and the state’s teacher of the year, said the county lacks convenient housing for teachers.

    “The time I commute can be time spent in the classroom,” she said.