Florence School District 3 names new principals

Florence School District 3’s Board of Trustees has voted to name new principals at J.C. Lynch Elementary School and Ronald E. McNair Middle School.

Ronald E. McNair Middle School Principal David Laws, meanwhile, will become co-principals at J. Paul Truluck Middle School with Kat Tisdale, who had been that school’s sole principal.

District Superintendent Beth Wright said she decided to make the changes after Lake City Elementary and Ronald E. McNair Middle were named to the state’s Palmetto Priority program.

The program is aimed at assisting schools that haven’t met student-learning goals set by the South Carolina Education Accountability Act of 1998, according to the South Carolina Department of Education.

The board voted 6-3 Tuesday for Franklin Foster to become the new J.C. Lynch Elementary School principal and Margie Myers to serve as Ronald E. McNair Middle’s principal.

Foster, who began his career in education 13 years ago, had served as principal since 2005 at Harbison West Elementary School in Lexington/Richland School District 5. Myers, with 24 years in education, was principal of Kingstree Junior High School for the past three years.

Before the vote, board Vice Chairman Bernard McIntosh asked when the district had advertised for a principal at Ronald E. McNair.

“So we don’t have to advertise for positions for Palmetto Priority schools, is that what you’re saying?” he asked Wright.

District counsel Andrea White said after Tuesday’s meeting that no state or federal law requires advertising for vacancies. She said the district’s policy in this case is only that no employee can be hired without an interview, checks of references and background, and a board vote.

After the meeting, Wright said state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex “outlined very clearly” that superintendents can remove and reassign principals for Palmetto Priority schools, she said.

The board had previously considered an extended school year calendar after the schools were named to the Palmetto Priority program.

During public comments, Terrie G. Bryant, whose daughter attends Ronald E. McNair Middle, asked why Laws would be moved when the schools’ standardized test scores have showed gains.

“Is this a plan or a reaction to a failed plan?” she asked the board, referring to the extended calendar.

In terms of their numerical absolute ratings, Ronald E. McNair Middle suffered a drop recently, while Kingstree Junior High’s figures have risen in recent years, Wright said.

Wright said she can’t take the chance of Ronald E. McNair Middle’s rating dropping any further, which would place it in the state’s Turnaround Schools program, an extension of Palmetto Priority.

Both schools have received absolute ratings of “At-Risk” on the past three years’ School Report Cards from the state.