OCSD trustees focus on schools with tour; board ‘committed to being one school district’

“They are committed to being one school district and being one school district requires you to have familiarity with the entire county,” OCSD Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster said while touring William J. Clark Middle School.

“That is the purpose: to continue to expand the board’s knowledge and my knowledge, but also to have an opportunity to see some of the great things that are going on with our facilities and our school facilities as a whole,” he said.

Foster said the board’s tour was initially scheduled for the beginning of the year, but it was delayed due to the pandemic.

“We are very committed to our job,” OCSD Chair Ruby Edwards said. “In order for us to know what we have to do, we have to also make sure we are looking at all our schools. …

“The nine of us came in running hard to get started. We felt like today would be a good day to get on the bus and go visit and see where they all are located.”

The school district is having its 26 campus facilities assessed in an effort to plan for school maintenance and improvements. The district also had a demographic study done to assess enrollment trends and projections.

Edwards said the idea to tour the district was inspired by something she was able to do years ago while working with Whittaker Elementary School. The school would take teachers and staff to all the neighborhoods “so we could know where the children were coming from in our school.”

The board members spent the day visiting a number of schools including Elloree Elementary, Lake Marion High School, Vance-Providence Elementary, Howard Middle, Rivelon Elementary, Edisto Primary, Carver-Edisto Middle and Branchville High.

Trustees are also scheduled to have a board retreat Wednesday where they plan to discuss board roles, responsibilities and goals.