3 highlights of Sumter school board activity in past year

1. School climate survey for teachers to be conducted

At the Feb. 26 board meeting, Sumter School District's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to engage an external group to administer a school climate survey of teachers.

Teacher retention is critical for all districts, given nationwide teacher shortages, and school climate related to student behavior/discipline can play a large factor in retention issues, according to widespread research.

The district's code of conduct previously allowed students at times seven chances before some severe actions were taken under previous Superintendent Penelope Martin-Knox.

In the revised code adopted for the current school year under Superintendent William Wright Jr., those chances were reduced to four.

Some trustees, including Jeff Zell and Daniel Palumbo, have suggested recently that more steps need to be taken for a stricter code of conduct in the future.

Board Chairman the Rev. Ralph Canty said the trustees have authorized Wright to try to identify potential companies that might be able to conduct the survey.

"We are going to look to the superintendent to provide us some guidance in this area," Canty said, "and we will expedite this as quickly as we can and as cost effectively as we can."

2. Salary adjustments made as a result of 2023 salary study

District employees' paychecks for Feb. 29 reflected salary adjustments as a result of the district-wide salary study that was conducted by an outside group last year.

The full board approved salary study recommendations in the fall, but it took until recently to enact changes across all employee levels, factoring in individual experience and job duties. The comprehensive salary study was the first of its kind for Sumter School District and looked at establishing a competitive pay structure in the region. The study also analyzed district staffing levels and organizational structure.

As a result of the study, first-year teacher pay with a bachelor's degree was raised from the state minimum of $42,500 to $44,625. First-year teacher pay with a master's degree was raised from $47,576 to $49,955.

3. Board OKs new Mayewood athletic building after 4-month delay

A new bathroom and concession stand area is set for a middle school football field in Sumter School District after the school board voted 6-3 on a new building concept in February.

An option for a wood-framed building not to exceed an allotted amount of nearly $400,000 for the project work won out over potentially a smaller-cost approach to use existing facility space on site at the now-closed Mayewood Middle School with the district's Board of Trustees.

The new bathroom and concession stand area will be for use by students and the general public at R.E. Davis College Preparatory Academy home football games and track-and-field meets. The school's football team continues to play its home games at Mayewood, which is 1.3 miles from the R.E. Davis campus.