“For the people who were chastised in this report to be appointing yet another superintendent, well, it just doesn’t pass the smell test,” said State Representative Boyd Brown. “I have contacted the Governor’s Office, and they’re looking to see what can be done, if anything.”
However, Brown noted, the likelihood of the Governor – or any other office – taking action is slim.
“It’s very unlikely,” Brown said. “Right now, there’s not a governing body over local school districts. Our hands are tied. But we’re trying to do whatever we can. There’s only so much we can do, by law.”
State Senator Creighton Coleman agrees that something must be done, and said cooperating with SACS and hiring an effective superintendent would be a good start.
“Our district has bright and eager students, excellent teachers, administrators and employees who perform their job well,” Coleman said. “On top of this, the per-pupil spending exceeds 95 percent of the districts in South Carolina, and has done so for years. There is no excuse for our schools to be in the condition we find them.
“I am requesting that the board cooperate with the SACS assessment by receiving and implementing their recommendations, then hiring a superintendent who can best carry out the SACS recommendations,” Coleman said.
Brown said a thorough investigation of the district needs to be undertaken in order to clean up problems uncovered in the Special Review Team report issued last week by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
“We need a cleanup crew to come in here, whether it’s a legislative investigation or a State Department of Education investigation,” Brown said.
An underperforming school system, Brown said, is the one remaining roadblock in county economic development.
“They’re the one obstacle in the way of future growth in this county,” Brown said. “We can widen every road, put in water and sewer, increase law enforcement, but until we have a good school system, we’re not going to have world-class development.”
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