It's a sad state of affairs when the South Carolina Department of Education takes over a school district because it's bleeding federal funds. Sad because (a) the district's schools have been failing since records have been kept; and (b) the district should have been forced to combine with another decades ago. We're talking about Williamsburg County, one of the poorest in a state with multiple poor districts.
The district's students total about one Wando High School, and enrollment has continued to decline over the last decade.
"The district's finances are in such disarray, the federal government forced the district to pay back $283,000 last year and to use an additional $368,000 to hire outside help on following federal spending and reporting requirements. Combined, that means the district lost about half of the federal money it would otherwise receive for students with disabilities — money that primarily pays for teachers."
"The district has been on notice since 2015 to fix the problems but has done little. Without drastic change, it will lose even more federal money, according to the state agency."
Its superintendent and school board are now toast. Spearman is threatening the rest of the district's staff with unemployment. Since the school district probably is one of the biggest employers in the county, things are looking grim for locals.
With $17,000 spent per student even the poorest district should have better results than this one.
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