Two Marlboro County schools were among 15 schools across the state that did not meet student learning goals mandated in the South Carolina Accountability Act. Bennettsville Elementary School and Clio Middle School join 17 other schools in the Palmetto Priority Schools project.
At-risk schools are monitored for three years to see if they make progress. For those that don't, the State Superintendent can enter schools in the Palmetto Priority School project, which gives them advice and technical assistance to implement the recommendations of the State Board of Education.
The 15 schools just entered into the project have an average poverty rate of more than 97 percent.
Project Director David Rawlinson said teacher recruitment is an issue at high-poverty schools, with annual turnover rates sometimes as high as 40 percent. The Education Department says another challenge is continuity of leadership. Rawlinson said that of the original 16 schools identified four years ago, none has the same principal today. In the eight districts where those schools are located, none has the same superintendent that it did four years ago.
In the meantime, Lake City Elementary School and Ronald E. McNair Middle School, both in Florence County, as well as Blenheim Elementary/Middle School in Marlboro County have been released from the project. In all, 14 schools across the state met expected progress and were released from the program.
