Leaders, students celebrate funding for new Dillon Middle School

DILLON — Local and state leaders gathered Friday in Dillon to celebrate the promising future that lies ahead after struggling to fund a new school to replace J.V. Martin Junior High School.

J.V. Martin, the state’s oldest school, is more than a century old and was featured in the documentary film “Corridor of Shame,” which examined education funding equity in school districts along Interstate 95.

Friday, the school’s gymnasium was filled to capacity as students, faculty and those responsible for the efforts to build the new school, to be called Dillon Middle School, celebrated the federal loans and grants made available to do so.

Dillon County will receive a $35.8 million loan and a $4 million grant to improve education in the county as part of a $140 million investment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The funds are coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for use in 14 community facilities projects in rural areas across the country. Those projects include hospitals, schools and fire departments in 11 states.

The Dillon County School Facilities Corp. will use the funds it received will be used to construct two new schools and renovate two existing school facilities in the county.

Dillon School District 2 Superintendent Dr. Ray Rogers said about $25 million of that will go toward the new school’s construction.

Rogers said portions of the funding will be used to construct Dillon Middle on the campus of Dillon High School, while other funds would go to the Dillon School District 1, based in Lake View, and Dillon School District 3, based in Latta.

During the ceremony Friday, Rogers took the stage with State Superintendent Dr. Jim Rex and several other officials who helped get the necessary funding.

“It’s been rewarding, it’s been tiring, but to see the kids and how excited they are over just a picture, what are they going to be like when they get to walk into a new school?” Rogers asked.

Rex said he feels the process has been a long time coming, and J.V. Martin Junior High helped shine a spotlight on the inequities in state education funding.

“Just seeing the personal impact that this has for this community, and for these young people who had, frankly in some cases, given up that anybody cared enough to help them out of this dilemma in terms of these poor facilities and these antiquated facilities,” he said.

During the ceremony, Rex presented three people who were pivotal in helping to shine a spotlight on J.V. Martin, and bring about change, with Palmetto Ambassador of Education awards.

The awards were presented to Darryl Rosser, C.E.O. of Chicago-based Sagus International, which helped to spearhead private-sector assistance for the school and donated classroom furniture; Dillon County Board of Education Chairman Richard Schafer, who helped pass a sales tax referendum to fund school construction; and former J.V. Martin student Ty’sheoma Bethea, who caught the nation’s attention with her letter to President Obama about the plight of her school.

Schafer said he was honored by the award, and at times fought back tears when he talked about the struggles the district has been through and the help from all of those who have stood by his side.

“The award should be presented to so many people, other than I,” he said, “you know this is not about me, this is about the whole community and all these children.”

Ty’sheoma and her family moved to Atlanta, where she now attends school, but she told the crowd Friday there was no place like home and she can’t wait to see the changes that will come to Dillon County.

“I worked very hard for it and so did the other two recipients and I believe that we all deserved it, and I just thank everyone for supporting us behind this,” she said.

Rex said the three award recipients were simply a few among a large crowd of residents and private-sector leaders who worked to turn J.V. Martin from a rural school without adequate funding to a school that will potentially serve as a model for other schools across the state.

As leaders unveiled the drawing of the new school to the crowd Friday, the students erupted in cheers.

The song “Beautiful Day” by U2 played as leaders, staff and students hugged and reminisced on the past they’ve fought so hard to overcome .

Friday’s celebration marked only the second time Palmetto Ambassador of Education Awards have been given. The first were presented two years ago to recording group Hootie and the Blowfish, who started an educational foundation to benefit children across the Palmetto State.