Billy Floyd, director SC – SACS CASI, was on hand at 7 a.m. to answer questions from the executive committee regarding the team’s report, which recommended placing the district on probation for three months.
Not being employed with the Fairfield County School District when the review team first visited the school, Superintendent Patrice Robinson expressed the district’s willingness to work with SACS in hopes that a second “erroneous” report not be issued by the accreditation agency.
“We just want to be real clear on that we don’t get trapped again, in a negative, hostile situation,” she said. “We don’t want to make the same mistakes again.”
Robinson also told Floyd that the second visit will give the school district and its trustees an opportunity to show how dedicated and invested they are in the lives of their students.
The biggest thing the board needs to show during the second visit, Floyd said, is an “atmosphere of cooperation” and “commitment with complying with the standards.” During the special review team first visit on Oct. 26, they were not allowed to talk with any board members, employees or stake holders.
Board Secretary Annie McDaniel said a representative (Acting Superintendent Walter Tobin) was appointed by the board to meet with the team.
“We specifically left a person to facilitate with SACS to talk to,” McDaniel said.
She also said the Board of Trustees was advised by its attorney, Charles Boykin, not to meet with the review team.
“We’re in the people business,” Floyd said, adding that the Acting Superintendent did not take the time to greet the team when they arrived.
He went on to say that not having someone available to answer questions during the meeting gave the perception that the school district “may have something to hide” even if it doesn’t.
A large portion of the report focused on the district and school board being “poor stewards of the district’s human, material and/or fiscal resources.”
“It is not our role to tell you where you should or should not spend money, but what the emphasis is, are you supporting the process of activities at a substantial level to get student achievement,” he said.
Allegations in the report point out that “the district expends one of the highest per pupil expenditure rates in the state, when compared to like districts.”
In 2008, the report states that Fairfield County spent “$12,168 per pupil, compared to $9,684 by like districts.”
Floyd said the board has to answer the question “are we doing what the standards say in order to get student achievement?”
He also touched on other allegations that focused on the relationship between the board and superintendent and the confusion between the district’s Organizational Chart and their Employee List.
The report found that there were several positions that existed on the Organizational Chart that did not exist on the Employee List.
Some committee members questioned where the team got the chart from and why other supporting documents were not given to the team.
Floyd said he could not respond to the accuracy of the documents provided by the school district to the team, and that it’s not the team’s responsibility to determine if the provided information is correct or not.
Robinson said corrections are currently being made to the Organizational Chart.
Floyd also talked briefly about the district’s strategic plan.
In hopes of getting a positive second report, the board asked Floyd if one member of the review team could be excluded from the second review team because he currently works with a former Fairfield County School District employee, and his opinion about the district may have been swayed by that person.
Paul Krohne, executive director with the S.C. School Board Association, also attended the meeting, and offered his services to the school district.
The review team will follow up with a second visit no later than March 1.
In addition to its meeting, the Board of Trustees also sent letters home to parents about SACS’s decision.
“An extensive self-study preparing the district for this visit is underway and will address the recommendations and suggestions from parents, staff and community members and other stake holders. During this self-study, we will conduct several focus group meetings with parents, business owners, governmental leaders and the faith-based community beginning in January to discuss the process the district will undergo to return us to full accreditation standing with SACS,” states the letter.
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