Darlington School District celebrates report card success

DARLINGTON - Darlington County Superintendent of Education Dr. Rainey Knight had a message for the county’s public school teachers in the wake of news that the district is now the fifth highest academically performing school district in South Carolina despite having one of the state’s highest levels of poverty: “You helped make the impossible possible,” she said.

District officials gave Darlington County Board of Education members a report on a number of recent academic successes for the district during Monday’s school board meeting.

That included an overview of last week’s annual state school report card data. This year the district boosted its absolute rating on the report card from Good the previous year to Excellent.

That improvement was driven by improving test scores on the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) exam among elementary and middle schools and a rising high school graduation rate which now stands at 88.4 percent from 87.5 percent in 2010, well above the state’s graduation rate.

“You can see that all of our schools are working very hard to keep up with their children and make sure they’re in the classroom,” said Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Linda Graham.

“These principals are going out, these guidance counselors are going out and finding these students and making sure they’re in school,” said Hartsville board member Dr. Allen McCutchen.

Graham told board members that officials with at least two other school districts in the state have contacted the district in recent days. “They want to come and talk to us and see what we’re doing,” she said.

Graham also provided data on the End of Course Examination Program (EOCEP) and the High School Assessment Program (HSAP), which is the state high school exit exam. State EOCEP exams are administered for algebra I, math for the technologies, English I, U.S. history, physical science and biology.

Among the highlights Graham pointed out:

_Among 39 primary schools ranked statewide based on absolute ratings on the report cards, Lamar Elementary School with a rating of Excellent ranked second highest in the state and Southside Early Childhood Center ranked seventh highest. Cain Elementary and Pate Elementary, each with Excellent ratings, ranked 13th and 21st respectively.

Primary schools are schools with only grade levels lower than those in which PASS is administered. PASS is administered in grades three through eight.

_Among 645 elementary schools ranked by the state on the absolute ratings, Carolina Elementary School with an Excellent rating ranked 83rd. North Hartsville Elementary and Washington Street Elementary, each with Excellent ratings, ranked 116th and 158th respectively.

_Among 305 middle schools ranked by absolute rating, Hartsville Middle ranked 142nd and Darlington Middle ranked 176th.

_Among 219 high schools ranked by absolute rating, Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology ranked first. Lamar High School ranked 33rd, Hartsville High 43rd and Darlington High 73rd.

_Among 214 high schools ranked based on End of Course exam results, Mayo again ranked highest in the state.

_Among 219 schools ranked based on HSAP results, Mayo led the pack at number one again.

_Mayo also ranked number one among 211 high schools ranked on on-time high school graduation rates, while Lamar High ranked eighth highest, Hartsville High 16th highest and Darlington High 36th highest.

“As you can tell, we’re kind of excited about what our schools and our children are doing,” Knight said.

“Don’t forget we’ve made some massive budget cuts over the last few years,” said Lamar board member Warren Jeffords.

“I’m so proud of this district and so humbled to be sitting here and to get to work with these people,” said Darlington board member Tom Henson.

“When you look at that poverty level, it’s unbelievable,” said Hartsville board member Jamie Morphis. Morphis praised Knight and the district administration for putting a strong emphasis on recruiting and retaining the best teachers they can get.

“You know, when you get to the top, it’s tough to stay there, but you’ve gone beyond that,” he said. “I marvel at it. You keep getting asked to do more with less, and you continue to make the grade. Budgets go down, grades go up.”

For board Chairman Charles Govan, the question was: “Where do we go from here?”

“One of the reasons we are where we are is that you, the administration, are so proactive,” Morphis said.