The Orangeburg County School District has seen its finances, teacher recruitment efforts and academic outcomes improve, Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster said Monday.
The work continues.
“It is about progress,” Foster said. “We can’t sit back and allow situations to be one where we are OK utilizing or relying on our old successes and not creating new successes.”
Foster highlighted the improvements in the district during his State of the District address at the Orangeburg County Library and Conference Center. About 150 people were in attendance.
OCSD had a healthy fund balance of $25.2 million for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, a turnaround from two years ago when it was placed on the S.C. Department of Education’s fiscal watch list for not having an adequate balance.
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“There have been some tough times and some hard decisions and some processes that were not favorable that we had to put in place in order to rebound from the usage of our fund balance,” Foster said. “Through the hard work of finance, our principals … we were able to come off fiscal watch in one year. It is normally a year-over-year process for school districts to rebound.”
Foster noted the newly consolidated Orangeburg County School District had a year-end fund balance of $7.1 million in 2019-2020 after the district had to spend about $10 million from its fund balance to make up for an $8.7 million revenue shortfall. The shortfall due to a miscalculation in tax rates during the consolidation process.
Just prior to consolidation, Orangeburg school districts 3, 4, and 5 had a combined fund balance of $18.6 million.
In 2020-2021, the fund balance increased to about $12 million before jumping up to $25.2 million in 2021-2022.
“If that’s not good financial stewardship, what is?” Foster said.
“That was done, again, by looking at our policies, our practices.”
Improving the fund balance allowed the district to “care for our faculty” by giving bonuses across the board, he said.
“To be able to put this amount of money back and to still care for everybody is substantial progress,” Foster said.
The district has made an effort to look at its salary scale, staffing and job descriptions to ensure it is competitive and in-line with state standards, he said.
While the district’s Moody’s credit rating did fall from an A1 to an A2 due to the shortfall a few years ago, Foster says the district’s rating is still higher than before consolidation and still better than many districts across the state.
Foster expressed his confidence that the district will see its credit rating improve when the rating is revisited.
The district has also focused on seeking both federal and local grant dollars to add to taxpayer dollars, Foster said. Over the last two years, the district has received a total of $69 million in federal dollars and $3.6 million in state grants.
“If there is money out there, we are obligated to see if we can get it,” Foster said. “We are able to free up money in other places and that allows us to improve our fund balance.”
The district is about transparency, he said. All its financial transactions can be found on the district’s website.
Recruitment, retention
The district has also focused on recruitment and retention, Foster said. It has programs to encourage new teachers to remain teachers, encourage teacher assistants to become certified teachers and encourage retired teachers to come back to the classroom.
He noted that this past September, OCSD had no teacher vacancies in its elementary schools.
Foster highlighted the district’s recruitment and retention efforts.
In 2019-2020, the teacher turnover rate was 16.5%. That dropped to 13.9% in 2020-2021. In 2021-2022, the turnover rate was 13.8 percent.
“People are staying,” Foster said. “My goal is to get that below 10%.”
Lower teacher turnover helps to provide students with consistency in learning, he said.
The number of teacher vacancies has also gone down each year.
Foster noted in 2019-20, the year began with 124 vacancies; in 2020-21, 96 vacancies; in 21-22, there were 63 vacancies.
“In September, we had 18.5 vacancies in the entire school district,” Foster said, to applause. He noted that “until that number is 0, we have work to do.”
Foster said the district has implemented a number of efforts to help spread the word about the district and to attract people to the district.
The district has also focused on instruction.
While there is work to do academically, progress is being seen along many indicators, Foster said.
One is the district graduation rate. Foster noted during the pandemic, the graduation rate was 75%. Last year, it was 80.5%.
“We still have work to do,” he said.
Looking at all grade levels, Foster said, “Orangeburg County students exceeded the state average in progress in all our areas.”
“Are where we want to be? Collectively no, but we have to look at progress,” Foster said. “You hear unsatisfactory. Yeah, we have some schools that are unsatisfactory. You hear below average, we have those.”
“But when you dig down into the data and see the progress our students are making, we are exceeding the progress of students across the state of South Carolina,” Foster continued.
He said one such indicator is that in 2021, 47% of students reported being college and career ready. In 2022, that number increased to 55.5%.
In kindergarten, the use of Waterford and Letterland curricula has helped students exceed the national average in iReady test scores, he said.
Facility upgrades
Foster also noted the district’s focus on facility improvements to aging school buildings, including a focus on regular maintenance, upgrades to school air conditioning and energy systems and a $190 million, voter-approved borrowing plan to build and upgrade schools and athletics facilities.
Improving school buildings will help improve the educational experience for students, Foster said.
Upgrades include:
• The installation of new security cameras and access doors at 14 schools.
• New roofs at William J. Clark, Robert E. Howard Middle and Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School and new athletic tracks at Bethune-Bowman, Branchville, Lake Marion and Orangeburg-Wilkinson.
• New flooring in 11 schools and windows replaced in four schools.
• Painting of the interior and exterior at 15 schools.
• 23 schools will receive LED lighting (interior and exterior), water conservation equipment, HVAC replacements and lighting controls. Of the 2,500 HVAC units in the district, 2,006 were beyond their useful lifespan, Foster said.
Foster praised all those who have supported the district and advancement of students for the most recent year, including the school board of trustees, faith-based leaders and principals.
In concluding his address, Foster said, “What we do today for every child will honestly and truthfully determine what that child will be able to do for the rest of his or her life. That is the weight we carry.”
“Right now is our time in Orangeburg,” Foster continued. “Right now. It isn’t tomorrow. It isn’t yesterday. But the only way we will take advantage of our opportunity is to do it together.”
Foster said parents, students, board members, elected officials and faith-based leaders are all called to be involved in improving the educational experience for children.
“There is a point where there is a battle and, quite frankly, we are losing,” Foster said. “But I think right now is an opportunity to bounce back and we are doing that.”
Foster thanked all those who are in the fight for children.
“I thank you for joining me in this walk and this journey and ensuring that the heart of what we do stays at the forefront because at the end it is a child,” he said.
The State of the District Address can be viewed on OCSD’s YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/3oz49Eygv2w.
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