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Anita Huggins, head of Charleston County public schools, recapped the 2023-24 school year at an annual State of the Schools Address in which she celebrated district successes and shared opportunities and future focus areas for the district to grow in the upcoming year. Huggins delivered her Nov. 14 address at Charleston County School of the Arts, attended by local leaders, board members, teachers, principals, staff members and students.
The Charleston County School District superintendent highlighted recent district accomplishments, such as kicking off the school year with zero classroom vacancies , historic teacher salary increases and some academic gains students achieved in the last two years, as seen in this year's SC Ready test scores. Huggins said more than 60 percent of all students from grades 3 though 8 can now read at grade level, but achievement gaps remain. While literacy levels of Black and Hispanic students have increased moderately, they remain lower compared to their White peers, in the 30th percentile.
A new funding model was implemented in Charleston schools. Here's what it looks like in classrooms. Algebra and math readiness in students from grades 3 through 8 follows a similar trend.
Scores for all students increased, but only 21 and 27 percent of Black and Hispanic students met expectations, compared to 75 percent of White students. The district's graduation rate increased from 84 to 88 percent in five years, the highest to date, Huggins said, adding students also made significant strides in college and career readiness. The Post and Courier’s Education Lab focuses on issues and policies that affect South Carolina’s education system.
It is supported by donations and grants to the nonprofit Public Service and Investigative Fund. For more information, and to donate, go to https://postandcourierfund.com/ Some 80 percent of students leave Charleston public schools prepared for college, a 10 percent increase in two years.
While all groups saw an increase in this area, 92 percent of White students outperformed their Black and Hispanic counterparts, whose percentages stand at 72 and 69, respectively. "I'm proud we are closing the gap but not nearly quickly enough," Huggins said, "and allocating resources to ensure that all students have what they need to be successful will be a lot of my work with the new (school) board." To narrow gaps and keep the improvements seen to date, Huggins said the district will prioritize areas such as better serving students whose main language is not English and students with disabilities.
CCSD election results: 2 incumbents unseated, Moms for Liberty keeps majority Multilingual learners were the only demographic group to see a decline last school year, according to recently released state report card data . Close to 3,000 of these students did not meet their language proficiency goal on their assessments of English proficiency tests. Huggins said the district is searching for 40 bilingual teacher assistants and staff members to support classroom instruction.
In the long-term, she said the district will increase the number of teachers with recognized English for Speakers of Other Languages credential. Students with disabilities need additional support in terms of behavior and academic achievement, Huggins said. For this, the district is working to bring applied behavioral therapists into special education classrooms.
SC report cards show more students ready for careers but thousands still graduate unprepared In an interview, Huggins said bringing in ABA therapists will be one of the areas prioritized in the next budget cycle. She added the district's lawyer is working to ensure there are no complications relating to student privacy laws in allowing these service providers into schools. In the long-term, the district aims to reduce special education class sizes where needed and assign additional support staff in these classrooms.
Other focus areas include increasing access to centers for advanced studies, expand early childhood offerings and enhancing student access to mental health supports. "While we are thriving, I certainly don't want where we are now to be the pinnacle of our success," Huggins said..
