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Tag: richland school district 2

  • R2 board votes 12.3% pay hike for Super

    Board Split Over Size of Raise, Polling

    COLUMBIA – It’s been a profitable summer for Dr. Baron Davis, superintendent of the Richland Two school district.

    On July 1, Davis’ salary rose from $191,904 to $197,661 after he accepted a STEP increase coupled with a 1 percent raise the district gave administrators.

    Six weeks later, the Richland Two Board of trustees tacked on another 12.3 percent, elevating the superintendent’s base pay to $221,973, fifth highest in the state, according to public records.

    William Royster, superintendent of Greenville County schools, leads the state at $253,636, followed by Gerrita Postlewait (Charleston-$233,000), Rick Maxey (Horry-$230,869) and Darryl Owings (Spartanburg 6-$224,924).

    On Aug. 13, the Richland Two board voted 5-2 in favor of Davis’ increase, which includes a two-year contract extension and a 2.5 percent increase in annuity contributions. Davis also can only be dismissed by supermajority (5-2) vote.

    Trustees Monica Elkins-Johnson and Lindsay Agostini voted in opposition.

    Elkins-Johnson said aside from objecting to the supermajority clause, she supports Davis. 

    “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 supermajority,” she said. 

    Elkins-Johnson also claimed Board Chairman James Manning polled board members.

    “We were polled by the chair. He made a phone call and polled the board prior to, so I will not be supporting this,” Elkins-Johnson said during the meeting.

    Manning said he did occasionally speak with board members about the contract, but never polled anybody.

    While she voted against the contract, Agostini also said she didn’t get the perception that Manning polled other board members.

    “He did not poll me. He and I had a conversation about where I stood, as I frequently have discussions with other board members to discuss or seek clarity,” Agostini said in phone interview Tuesday. “It’s not uncommon for us to speak outside of a board meeting.”

    She did voice concerns about the supermajority clause, as well as the size of Davis’ raise. 

    “I, too, am unable to support the new contract based upon the supermajority vote,” Agostini said on Aug. 13. “I also have a concern about setting precedent with such a large salary increase.”

    Agostini said she would have been more comfortable approving an increase that would have placed Davis in the $200,000 and $205,000 a year range.

    “I don’t have an exact percentage,” she said Tuesday. “I do believe that he deserves a raise.”

    Trustee Teresa Holmes also thought the supermajority clause was improper, though she ultimately voted for the contract.

    “I am not in agreement with the five-vote (clause in the) contract,” Holmes said. “When we make policies, we can’t make policies for one specific person.”

    State law doesn’t specifically prohibit public bodies from instituting supermajority thresholds to approve a measure.

    In 2017, an S.C. Attorney General Office opinion said a Greenville County ordinance requiring a supermajority vote to enact a fee paying for a new communications system didn’t violate state law.

    “Courts have consistently recognized the basic principal that a local ordinance, just like a state statute, is presumed to be valid as enacted unless or until a court declares it to be invalid,” the opinion states.

    Manning said the supermajority clause has been in previous Richland Two superintendent contracts, and it’s only fair to include it in Davis’ contract.

    “Dr. Davis has proven himself to be an exceptional leader,” Manning said. “We were simply bringing his contract in line with where we had other superintendents.”

    As to the raise, Manning said Davis deserved 12.3 percent because of his vast responsibilities leading one of the state’s biggest districts.

    “You could look that as a huge increase or you can look at that he’s an at will employee who serves at the will of the board and can be terminated at any point,” Manning said. “There is some additional risk in his position that most of our staff do not have.”

    The raise Davis received is substantially more than the 2.5 percent increase he got in September 2018. It’s also greater than the 4 percent raises – newer teachers received more – included in the state’s 2019-2020 budget.

    Lisa Ellis, a board member for SC for ED, a teacher advocacy group that led a State House rally in May calling for higher educator pay, said school districts in general should dedicate less money to administration and more into the classroom.

    “We worked hard at the state level all year to try to get that salary increase,” Ellis said. “Money is not really getting into the classroom. [School districts] are spending money at the district office. For teachers, that’s a really frustrating place for them to spend it.”

  • Richland 2 discipline issues increase

    Blythewood – While in-school suspensions are generally trending downward in Richland 2, the opposite is true of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, including at Blythewood area schools.

    Both Blythewood area high schools and all three middle schools reported increases, as did one elementary school, according to online state report cards published by the S.C. Department of Education.

    That’s consistent with data recently presented to the Richland 2 Board of Education. On Sept. 25, district staff said in-school suspensions (ISS) have been plummeting, but out-of-school suspensions (OSS) and expulsions are trending upward.

    “Each year, we are well under 1 percent of students that actually get expelled,” said Cleveland Smith, the district’s chief administrative officer. “Even though last year’s numbers were up, which were 0.37 percent, its still less than 1 percent.”

    Smith noted that increasing enrollment year to year has helped offset percentage increases in suspensions and expulsions.

    “99.63 percent of our students never got to that point,” he said. “In any year, 99 percent of students are not at that level of expulsion.”

    There are some key differences in how the state and district data were measured, however.

    State report cards only report OSS and expulsion data “for violent and/or criminal offenses,” according to the Department of Education website.

    District data presented on Sept. 25 included all suspensions and expulsions, regardless of the reason. The district’s data also included ISS figures, which are not listed on the state report cards.

    In the report, delivered during the Sept. 25 board meeting, district staff said out-of-school suspensions rose from 2,380 in 2016 to 2,462 last year. Expulsions increased from 52 to 102, district data shows.

    In-school suspensions dropped from 1,850 to 1,617. They had been as high as 2,382, the data shows.

    School district data, though, is likely higher. In tabulating suspension and expulsion data, the district counted by the student. If one student was suspended multiple times, the district counted it as only one suspension, Smith said.

    Dr. Monica Elkins-Johnson, the board’s vice-chair, questioned the methodology.

    “You indicated that the students, if they served in in-school suspension six or seven times, they’re only counted once,” Elkins-Johnson said. “Walk me thru that. I’m trying to figure out how we’re having an accurate account if they’re only on the chart once. Is this an accurate reflection?”

    Smith said the district used “unduplicated” data in compiling suspension and expulsion figures. He pledged to provide a more detailed report showing the total number of actual suspensions and expulsions at a later date.

    According to state data, Blythewood High School out-of-school suspensions and expulsions involving violent and/or criminal offenses rose from 2.2 to 2.5 percent in the past two school years.

    The 2017 report card lists Blythewood High’s student population at 2,001 students, resulting in about 50 suspensions and expulsions. That’s about one suspension or expulsion every 3.6 days in a 180-day school year.

    Westwood High School reported an even higher percentage of suspensions and expulsions, rising from 2.2 to 4.1 percent.

    The 4.1 percent figure translates to at least 55 suspensions and expulsions, or about one suspension or expulsion every 3.3 days, according to the data.

    Muller Road Middle (0.8 percent), Blythewood Middle (1.7 percent) and Kelly Mill Middle (1.2 percent) saw increases as well, data shows.

    Lake Carolina Elementary suspensions and expulsions rose slightly, from 1 to 1.2 percent. The rate dropped from 0.6 to zero percent at Round Top Elementary.

    Bethel-Hanberry and Langford elementary schools didn’t report any suspensions or expulsions in 2016 or 2017, state data shows.

  • R2 bond discussion set for WHS

    BLYTHEWOOD – Another school bond referendum presentation will be held in Blythewood on Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. at Westwood High School, located at 180 Turkey Farm Road. Richland School District Two is inviting the community and media to learn more about the bond referendum at two upcoming information presentations.

    Two bond referendum questions will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. One asks voters to approve the issuance of bonds not to exceed $468,406,000. Richland 2 School District is billing the referendum as a safety/security bond that will bring improvements at schools and for buses, improvements to academic learning spaces, additions and improvements to arts/athletic facilities and technology infrastructure improvements.

    Find information about the bond referendum at www.richland2.org/bond.

  • R2 Board extends Super’s contract

    COLUMBIA – On Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018 the Richland School District Two Board of Trustees met to conduct the superintendent’s performance evaluation for Dr. Baron Davis.

    Davis, Superintendent for Richland School District Two,  was given an overall distinguished evaluation for the 2017-18 school year, his first year as superintendent of the district, by the School Board, it was announced at Tuesday evening’s school board meeting.

    Board Chair Amelia McKie also announced that the board approved a motion to extend Davis’ contract with the district by one year, to June 30, 2021, and to increase the contribution to his annual annuity by 2.5 percent effective Sept. 30, 2019.

    Board members assessed Davis’ performance in the areas of policy and governance; planning and assessment; instructional leadership; organizational management; communications and community relations; and professionalism.