STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

SYNOPSIS AGENDA/EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CODE:
COMMITTEE:
DATE:

PL-02
Policy and Legislative
March 8, 2016

SUBJECT/TITLE
Report on 2016 Florence School District Four (District) Accreditation and State Board of
Education (SBE) Declaration of a State of Emergency in Brockington Elementary School and
Johnson Middle School, as provided in law under the Education Accountability Act (EAA), S.C.
Code Ann. 59-18-1520 and 59-18-1570 (Supp. 2015); General Appropriation Act, 2015 S.C. Acts
91, Proviso 1A.13 (Proviso 1A.13), SDE-EIA: Technical Assistance; SBE Regulation 43-300 (R.43-300),
Accreditation Criteria; and Code of Federal Regulations, 2 C.F.R. 200 (2 C.F.R. 200), Uniform

Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards
PURPOSE OF REPORT/REGULATION/ITEM
The S.C. Department of Education (SCDE) requests that the SBE declare a state of emergency in
Brockington Elementary School and Johnson Middle School based on the Districts more than 10year history of inability to achieve expected progress related to student academic performance.
Upon declaration of a state of emergency, the State Superintendent of Education has the options of
continuing technical assistance, removing the principals, and assuming management of the schools.
The principals, district superintendent, and members of the Board of Trustees, as required by 5918-1520, have been notified to appear before the SBE and its Policy and Legislative (P&L)
Committee to outline the reasons why a state of emergency should not be declared.
CRITICAL FACTS
ACCREDITATION
Florence Four is to be commended for making significant progress in clearing accreditation
deficiencies. Per SBE Regulation 43-300 (R.43-300), Accreditation Criteria, the District had until
February 22, 2016, to provide written documentation to request removal of deficiencies prior to the
SCDE assigning a final accreditation classification. Fiscal issues have been a concern for the
District Office under the Uniform Grant Guidance and annual audits. Because these are newly
identified as accreditation concerns at the district-level, the District Office will remain on
probationary status. All existing accreditation deficiencies for Johnson Middle School were cleared
for the 201516 school year; however, serious accreditation concerns exist because the districts
rate of completion of Individualized Graduation Plans is at 52 percent instead of the 100 percent as
required by law. Because this is a newly noted deficiency, the SCDE is providing the district
additional time to address the issues. All accreditation issues for Timmonsville High School and
Johnson Middle have been cleared for the 201516 school year.

FINANCES
In the Districts most recent audit, as required by 2 C.F.R. 200 , the District was identified with
numerous findings related to their use of funds, including four audit findings that affect three
federal programs administered by the SCDE. These specific four findings were related to revenue
reporting claims; general ledger monitoring for 201215; expenditure calculations; journal entries;
and payroll. The state of the financial records and system is so poor that the auditing firm refused
to express an opinion on the financial statements of the district. The related federal program offices
are currently determining management decisions regarding this audit. The District must initiate and
proceed with corrective actions as rapidly as possible. The SCDE is initiating changes to federal
funding of the district because of its high-risk status pursuant to the Uniform Grant Guidance.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
A schools annual absolute rating is determined by academic performance of students (and high
school graduation rates) as reported by the South Carolina School Report Card. Absolute ratings
for the Districts schools over time are shown in the chart below.
Florence School District Four Absolute Ratings
Year

Brockington
Elementary

Johnson Middle

Timmonsville High

2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

Unsatisfactory
Below Average
Average
Below Average
Below Average
At Risk
At Risk
At Risk
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)

Unsatisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Below Average
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk
Below Average
At Risk
At Risk
At Risk
At Risk (Priority)
At Risk (Priority)

Unsatisfactory
Below Average
Unsatisfactory
Below Average
Below Average
At Risk
At Risk
Average
Average
Below Average
At Risk
Below Average
At Risk
Below Average
Below Average

The state has had varying definitions of levels of support for low-performing schools since
enactment of the EAA. In 200607, the SCDE recommended designating some Unsatisfactory
(later changed to At Risk) schools as Palmetto Priority Schools (Priority School) for intensive
technical assistance. Brockington Elementary was first identified as a Priority School in 2008.
Brockington Elementary has remained on the list because growth measures were not met. Johnson
Middle was first identified as a Priority School in 200607. In 2009, Johnson Middle met expected
progress and was taken off of the list for several years.

Beginning in 2013, any school with an Absolute Rating of At Risk (2.31 or below) was identified
as a Priority School. Both Brockington and Johnson have been in Priority School status since
2013. Because of the statutory pause in accountability ratings, new absolute ratings were not
calculated for 2015.
Growth ratings in 2014 indicate serious issues with the progress being made by students. Not only
was absolute performance low but in all schools except Johnson Middle, students are regressing,
not growing:
District: At Risk
Brockington Elementary: Below Average
Johnson Middle: Good
Timmonsville High: Below Average
The Districts 2015 assessment results demonstrate significant problems with academic
performance. Students performed well below the state average in every subject and every grade,
with single-digit percentages in categories of ready, met, or above. Data show double-digit
point differences between state and district in all but third-grade writing. On the high school
English I end-of-course exams, district students scored the sixth highest percentage of Fs in the
state. On the Social Studies end-of-course exams, district students scored the highest percentage of
Fs in the state.
Florence School District Four Student Performance Data

Although the ACT Aspire was a new assessment in 2015, the districts performance relative to the
rest of the state indicates that students academic achievement has not satisfactorily improved
between 2014 and 2015.

Florence School District Four 2015 ACT Aspire Results as Compared to Other Districts in SC
Grade
Grade 3

ELA
Lowest district

Math
Lowest district

Reading
Lowest district

Grade 4

Lowest district

Lowest district

4 lowest

Grade 5

5 lowest

Grade 6

2 lowest
Lowest district

Grade 7
Grade 8

th
nd

th

13 lowest

Lowest district
th

8 lowest
nd

2 lowest
th

11 lowest

th
nd

Writing
th

19 lowest
Lowest district
th

2 lowest
4 lowest
Lowest district Lowest district
Lowest district Lowest district
th

6 lowest

th

4 lowest

CAPACITY OF CURRENT LEADERSHIP TO IMPLEMENT TURNAROUND

The External Review Team concluded that the ability to improve learning outcomes and achieve
school turnaround is questionable for current district and school leaders. As reported by the Office
of School Transformation (OST), there is a lack of instructional leadership capacity at both school
and district levels. Specifically, the district-level instructional leaders do not set an instructional
vision for the principals, do not meet with them regularly regarding their data, do not evaluate the
curricular opportunities for students, and do not seek out ways to provide more course offerings
and/or more interventions to support student learning. District schedules, PowerSchool records, and
special education programs were in such disarray that it threatened the schools accreditation and
required focused work by the SCDE Transformation Coach with district personnel over
approximately six weeks.
TIMELINE/REVIEW PROCESS
October 22, 2016

Superintendent Spearman issues statement of corrective action to

district which includes accreditation concerns and is signed by the
District Superintendent, school principals, and Board Chairperson.
Support for corrective action to be provided throughout school year
by multiple SCDE offices.

October 2015January 2016

SCDE accreditation team reviews school/district data and

documentation for compliance to SBE regulations and accreditation
standards. OST provides a full-time Transformation Coach who
assists with accreditation issues.

December 2015February 2016

SCDE External Review Team (ERT) develops recommendations

for school improvement.

February 1, 2016

Preliminary analysis reports and accreditation ratings are posted

online for school and district viewing.

February 10, 2016

Superintendent Spearmans report advises the SBE of the

preliminary accreditation classification of the District Office,
Brockington Elementary School, Johnson Middle School, and
Timmonsville High School.

February 12, 2016

SCDE Modified ERT Report e-mailed to the Districts

Superintendent, Dr. Boyd, and the Districts Board of Trustees
Chairman, Mr. Hodges.

February 15, 2016

Final ERT report presented to the Districts Board of Trustees

during a called meeting. During same meeting, the Board of
Trustees votes to initiate discussions with District Superintendent
Boyd to work towards a mutual agreement to end his relationship
with the District.

February 22, 2016

The District provided a written response to the preliminary

accreditation analysis. Deadline for district submissions in response
to initial accreditation findings.

February 26, 2016

SCDE formal decision letters on accreditation.

February 29, 2016

Formal notice to the district of the State Superintendents intention

to reconstitute Brockington Elementary and Johnson Middle
Schools under Proviso 1A.13.

March 8, 2016

Superintendent Spearman gives formal report to the SBE regarding

the accreditation status of the District and requests approval for
declaration of a state of emergency and reconstitution.

ECONOMIC IMPACT
COST:
FUND/SOURCE:

A cost analysis will be developed.

District finances, State Priority School funds

ATTACHMENTS
Attachments:
yes
no
(attachments must be submitted with synopsis)
Name of Attachments:
Attachment 1: February 2016 Modified ERT Report
Attachment 2: 2/1/2016 OFSA Preliminary Accreditation Report to Florence Four
Attachment 3: 2/1/2016 Spearman Letter to Boyd re Academic and Fiscal Concerns
Attachment 4: 2/16/2016 Boyd Letter to SCDE re Accreditation
Attachment 5: 2/23/2016 Florence Four Board of Trustees Letter to SCDE re ERT Report
Attachment 6: 2/26/2016 OFSA Accreditation Decision Letters
Attachment 7: 2/29/2016 SCDE Notification to Florence Four of State of Emergency (Revised)

RECOMMENDATION
The SCDE recommends the SBE declare a state of emergency in Brockington Elementary School
and Johnson Middle School. Upon declaration of a state of emergency, the State Superintendent
may continue technical assistance, replace the principals, and assume management of the schools.
If not a full approval, the SCDE recommends that the SBE support Superintendent Spearmans
action to reconstitute all certified positions in Brockington Elementary School and Johnson Middle
School to accommodate the contractual deadline of April 25, 2016, per Proviso 1A.13.
ACTION REQUEST
FOR APPROVAL:

FOR INFORMATION ONLY: