Inside Schools
A quick news break for employees
Recent KCSD Honors
The Applied Technology Education Campus (ATEC) received a $7,500 grant from the South Carolina State Firefighters Association (SCSFA) for its firefighting program. The grant will be used to purchase tools and other equipment for this program which is now certified to teach basic firefighting skills with assistance from the Camden Fire Department, Lugoff Fire Department and Kershaw County Fire Services.
North Central Middle teacher David Pollock was named "Teacher of the Year" at the 2017 VFW Annual Awards Banquet. NCMS teacher Jodie Kahler and Camden Middle teacher Jennifer Catoe were recognized at the banquet for their work as Patriot's Pen School Coordinators.
Lugoff-Elgin High teacher Carl Spoto Jr. will be inducted into the Midlakes (NY) Athletic Hall of Fame in October. Spoto is the winningest soccer coach in the history of Midlakes' program. He maintained a record of 54 wins and only 11 losses in Midlakes' varsity boys track program. His teams earned seven undefeated League seasons. In 2003, his varsity boys team was the Section 5 Class B champs. Spoto also has had 10 track athletes that placed at NY State championships. He is the current LEHS girls varsity coach.
Bethune Elementary Wins Academic Quiz Bowl
Bethune Elementary was the winner of the KCSD Elementary Academic Quiz Bowl. Front row: Trevor Lucas, Sebastian Gainey, Zyreon Caldwell, and Lacy Spann. Back row: Coach Jennifer Oglesby, Olivia Young, Tabatha Catoe, Mirage Ciesielski, and Coach Frances Raab.
#JustAChicken
The Kershaw County Gamecock Club donated three #JustAChicken books to each of KCSD's 11 elementary schools. Pictured l to r: Bill Godbold (KC Gamecock Club), Casey Robinson (President, KC Gamecock Club), Tim Hopkins (KCSD Exec. Director of Instruction), Langston Moore (Author), Cocky, Preston Thorne (Author) and Melissa Royalty (Principal of Pine Tree Hill Elementary.)
Jackson student names KCSO K9
Jackson School first grader Madison Cook won the contest sponsored by the Kershaw County Sheriff's Foundation to name the new K9 officer. Madison chose KC--short for Kershaw County. Here, Madison is pictured with Deputy Justin Spivey, KC and Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews.
Golden Apple Award honorees for January
The Kershaw County Teacher Forum’s Golden Apple program honors employees who are doing outstanding jobs.
Golden Apple Award honorees for January 2017:
ATEC: Derek Napper and Jerry Taylor
Baron DeKalb Elementary: Coleman Smith and Lindsey Finley
Bethune Elementary: Jakki Bonner
Blaney Elementary: Theresa McAvoy and Lisa Farmer
Camden Elementary: Jennifer Ellis and Jacobia Adamson
Camden High: Teresa Marshall and 1SG Connell Anthony
Camden Middle: Lakeisha Lawrence and Janie Herbert
Continuous Learning Center: Susan Clark-Walters and Danita Farmer
Doby’s Mill Elementary: Wynde Clark and Heidi Adongo
Jackson: Austin Bull and Paula Farmer
Lugoff Elementary: Megan Barlow and Joyce Tucker
Lugoff-Elgin Middle: Jolie Rumple and Delores Parnell
Midway Elementary: Austin McCaskill and Judy King
Mt. Pisgah Elementary: Martha Mason
North Central High: Samantha Snipes and Vincent Smith
North Central Middle: Burchell Richardson and Vicky Brown
Pine Tree Hill Elementary: Fair Ariail and Linda Rabon
Stover Middle: James Baker and Vernon Tucker
Wateree Elementary: Rhonda Moye and Cindi Gordon
Lakeisha Lawrence (Camden Middle) and Teresa Marshall (Camden High) and were the winners of the district drawing to receive $20 gift certificates from KFC.
Q and A with Dr. Morgan and Staff
Questions for this column are questions of general interest submitted each month in Superintendent's Cabinet meetings.
We are going on a field trip and need a bus driver. We have a bus driver that works several hours a week at our school. Why is it necessary for our elementary school to pay that bus driver to drive us when she would normally be working at our school during that time? There are two different accounts that pay for these functions; a district account is used to pay the driver’s salary for the supplemental hours in the school. The school only pays for the driver’s time on the field trip.
Would KCSD consider a stagger start for elementary students in light of the time consuming assessments we must do at the beginning of the year? We would suggest having a portion of our class come in each day during the first week of school for us to complete Fountas and Pinnell testing (typically 30 minutes per child) and possibly take one or both of the MAP tests on the same day. Although that idea has been discussed in the past, there has not been support for it with elementary school administrators, especially with trying to be sensitive to family schedules that would have to be adjusted for this staggered start.
Is the principal position at Bethune and Mt. Pisgah Elementary being restructured to be a part time teacher/part time principal? How will this look on a daily basis? What classes would be taught? This idea is currently being discussed but no definite decisions have been made yet. Although a final decision has not been made, the idea is that since each of those schools is very small, the principal could work with small groups of students, particularly in reading and/or math, at some point in the day.
What should a Teacher Workday look like? Across the district, workdays are treated very differently. For some, this means a full additional day of professional development while for others it is time to plan and work in the classroom. This vast discrepancy across the district is affecting teacher morale, especially in the elementary schools. Each school administrator has the leeway to determine the best use of the day for his/her school. Principals do have some flexibility as to the use of workdays in consultation with the faculty. Dr. Morgan did clarify expectations for workdays based on concerns raised prior to the most recent workday.
Can we have a good amount of time when we move to our new elementary school? Two or three weeks would be helpful in order to clean out, organize and get things situated in our classrooms. We will certainly work to have as much time as possible to make the transition smoothly.
In elementary school, I know that we have to have three major grades and six minor grades in ELA and math and two majors and four minors in social studies and science. On the last report card, we were told that the ratio had to be two minors for every major. Is this a district policy? District policy addresses the minimum number of grades as you outlined above but does not address maintaining a consistent ratio.
Why are students with multiple suspensions allowed to continue to be in classes where they are being disruptive and causing distractions? Didn't this used to be the purpose of CLC? Why has this changed? If you have a question about a specific student’s discipline, please discuss this with your school administrator. CLC has been restructured to serve students who have emotional challenges while students who might have been sent there previously for disciplinary reasons are now served at their home high schools through online learning. More alternative placements actually exist now than just a few years ago.
Why were 12-month employees the only ones who had to work on October 10? There were concerns with possible power outages in some schools when the decision was made to cancel school on October 10. Because there was not a concern with safe travel on the roads, 12-month employees were requested to come to work. As a reminder, employees were not required to make up all the days missed during the flood in October of 2015.
The new elementary schools are designed for a bookkeeper, attendance secretary and a receptionist. Does this mean we will all get receptionist? If not, is there a formula to determine at what point you are given extra office staff? If so, what is that formula? Principals make decisions on how to best allocate their staff in their schools. It would certainly be a good thing for large schools to have a receptionist. These positions were eliminated during the downturn, and funding has not made it possible to restore these positions.
Is there a way that employees can be notified of job postings? Many times we do not know of job vacancies in the district until it is too late. This would give current employees first shot at a possible better or different position within the school district. Thank you for this suggestion; this will be discussed by the Human Resources Department.
Kershaw County School District
Nestled in the heart of the Palmetto State, KCSD is home to over 10,300 students and more than 1,200 employees.
Email: maryanne.byrd@kcsdschools.net
Website: www.kcsdschools.net
Location: 2029 W Dekalb St, Camden, SC
Phone: (803) 432-8416
Facebook: facebook.com/KershawCountySchoolDistrict
Twitter: @kcsdschools