COASTAL OBSERVER

A baseball could do just as much damage as a gun, School Board Chairman Keith Moore said, recalling a Carvers Bay player who was recently struck in the face by a live ball.

Capital improvements being made to Carvers Bay athletic facilities came across Moore’s mind, he said, as the Georgetown County School District weighed the future of a 1997 consent decree in U.S. District Court.

He asked why is it that schools in the Carvers Bay attendance area do not have what other schools in the district have. He recognized that the high school is installing  screens to block the sun that glares into players’ eyes.

“I can’t help but think about why Carvers Bay, the only school in the district, baseball field was turned in the wrong direction,” Moore said. “I want to challenge this board right here, because we’re looking at the budget right now. I want you to take this as seriously we took getting metal detectors in the schools because this is a safety issue.”

That followed discussion as the board weighed the future of a desegregation order that has provided more than 50 years of federal oversight.

Moore said he hopes a decision will be made at the board’s meeting in April. 

The U.S. Department of Justice offered the district an option to move away from the order under a Trump administration directive in January.

The district was required to create Carvers Bay Middle and High schools by combining Choppee and Pleasant Hill attendance zones under the 1997 consent decree, stemming from a 1969 complaint.

District policy states that attendance zones are inflexible and must be enforced for attendance purposes. For intra-district transfer purposes, the policy states the district-wide ratio is 42 percent Black, 8 percent Hispanic and 50 percent white or other races.

Moore requested additional information about the consent decree. He wanted to know more about what recruitment and retention efforts the district is taking to continue to satisfy student and staff assignments.

Those two areas are part of the five “Green factors,” originating from the 1968 Supreme Court case Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, in which a district can seek unitary status.

Dave Duff, the attorney representing the district, told the board that the district has eliminated the remnants of the prior dual system to the extent that is “satisfactory” to the court.

The school district and DOJ filed a motion in 2017 with the federal court in Charleston seeking partial unitary status and was granted it in three areas including transportation, extracurricular activities and facilities. 

“What are we doing to grow our leaders?” Board Member Randy Walker asked. Walker attended the Consortium of State School Boards Associations national conference in Louisville earlier this month.

“They said that poor leadership is a ripple effect,” he said.

Kalu Kalu Jr., chief human resources officer for the district, told board members that the district has a great history of hiring within the district with help from instructional leadership programs such as Learn to Lead and Grow Your Own, where classified personnel can train to become certified teachers.

“Many of our district personnel have been here for long periods of time, and again, our retention rate is very high,” Kalu  said. “We’re just hoping that we can continue to increase it and continue to being the best and brightest staff membership to the district.”

“When I see this, I think about a teacher that, do they want to one day be here leading in this building as an administrator, or do they get frustrated to the point that they don’t want to because somebody’s not leading well?” Walker said.

Moore asked if there has been targeting for hiring teachers who attended historically Black colleges or universities.

“Considering where the HBCUs are located, they have partnerships with the schools in their specific area,” Kalu said. “We have been able to pull some of those students but it’s very difficult.”

Board Member Jarrod Ownbey asked if there were obstacles as far as improving hiring more minorities in leadership and teaching positions.

“I would say, statistically, it’s hard hiring in education, period. The pool is very small,” Kalu  said. “Many of the issues we found have not necessarily been in who the candidate is, their demographics, but also finding a candidate in general and making sure that person is the best and brightest for every position.”

Hiring teachers is not just an issue in Georgetown County, but nationally, he added.

Kalu said the school district receives rural recruitment incentive funds although it is not classified as a rural recruitment incentive district. It receives funds based on the location, population served and the fact that the district does not have more than 11 percent turnover rate each year.

Board Member Fallon Bordner said she met with teachers who were discussing the lack of Teacher Forum Scholarship applicants for students who are interested in a teaching career path. 

She asked about efforts to encourage students to pursue educational career paths.

Kalu said two high schools offer teacher cadet programs and the district is hoping to bring in ProTeam, which is similar and made for middle school-aged students.

Giles said it’s up to district employees to determine how their careers are perceived.

“Oftentimes, our students do not feel encouraged about education,” Superintendent Bethany Giles said. “We are our own public relations as far as education is concerned.”

Giles, a county native, said there is a reward in working for a community you grew up in.

“I may be a little biased in saying that, but at the same time, that is an award in itself,” she said.

Moore agreed, and said many factors go into choosing a career.

On the top of the list of factors is housing, he said.

“Do they want to come here, drive in from Horry, passing schools to get to our schools? I don’t think so. If I can get a job five minutes away from where I live, versus driving 45 minutes, that’s gonna be my preference,” he said.