Clover School District At Large Seat Choose 1
Clover School District At Large Seat
Biographical Information
What do you believe is the biggest challenge currently impacting public education?
Candidate has not yet responded.
What do you believe the district should do to improve safety for students and teachers in public schools?
Candidate has not yet responded.
How much control should the State Department of Education have over a well-performing district?
Candidate has not yet responded.
Biographical Information
Campaign Mailing Address
4 Catawba Ridge Rd
Clover, SC 29710
Clover, SC 29710
Campaign Phone
7045342794
Campaign Facebook URL
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100047777778592
Education
BS From Winthrop University in Marketing Fashion
Qualifications
Served on Numerous Boards including CSD Board of Trustees the last 4 years. Community Volunteer and Parent Volunteer.
What do you believe is the biggest challenge currently impacting public education?
I believe the biggest challenge currently impacting public education is student behavior. The National Center for Education Statistics most updated report from 2022 showed that 638,700 in K-12 education were suspended out of school and 28, 300 were expelled last year. Some of the biggest issues included racial tension between students, bullying/cyber bullying, physical threats of violence to students, verbal disrespect and physical threats to teachers. These behaviors start in elementary school, peak at middle school, but remain high at the high school.
What do you believe the district should do to improve safety for students and teachers in public schools?
Safety is also one of the biggest issues facing public schools today. One key area of CSD's strategic plan is to Maintain a Safe and Nurturing Environment. Some of the strategies the district employs are
1. Maintaining an anonymous tip line on the district and school websites.
2. Employing an SRO in every school (even BEA/CVA).
3. Teaching positive behavior and character education.
4. Utilizing metal detectors at large gatherings (sports, arts, etc.) and randomly at middle and high schools.
5. Implementing canine weapons searches of the parking lot and classrooms at middle and high schools.
6. Writing a safety grant for mobile weapons detector units and hand-held wands for the middle and high schools among other things.
How much control should the State Department of Education have over a well-performing district?
Districts across South Carolina have MANY educational needs – some more than others. The State Department has limited “people and financial” resources to stretch across the entire state; therefore, they would be better-served to focus on districts with high financial risk threats, low academic performance, and dysfunctional school boards. Legislatively, the State Department of Education is required to monitor all districts’ these criteria.
• CSD is fortunate enough to have a long history of sound financial planning and operational excellence.
• Academically, CSD is the second highest performing district across test measures in grades 3-high school. Last year, we had the highest graduation rate 96.6% of all public high schools.