Sumter School District grade floor becomes community issue; Wilson Hall senior recognized

50% GRADE FLOOR IN DISTRICT FAILS IN 4-4 TIE VOTE

Without a voting majority at the April 7 meeting, Sumter school board did not pass a proposed policy requiring teachers to give students at least 50% as a grade as opposed to final grades based on performance.

In a 4-4 tie vote with one trustee abstaining, Sumter School District's Board of Trustees did not reinstate a quarterly grade floor for students. Robert's Rules of Order, which governs conduct and decision-making for school boards in the state, requires a majority for a motion to pass.

The motion for the grade floor was in its second and final reading after passing first reading 4-3 on March 24 and would have been a reversal after the previous board, in place until the November 2024 election, removed the floor last summer.

Those voting to reinstate the 50% floor included Chairman Shawn Ragin, Vice Chairman Brian Alston, Brittany English and Gloria Lee.

Board members voting against the measure included the Rev. Ralph Canty, Bonnie Disney, Phil Leventis and Matthew "Mac" McLeod.

Area 4 Trustee Tarah Johnson abstained from the vote.

In previous discussions, Canty, Disney and Leventis stressed that a 50% grade floor did not hold students accountable or promote excellence in education. A life-long educator, Disney also emphasized a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is already in place in the district to help students and gives additional chances.

Those in favor of the floor said it allowed students a "second chance" to eventually pass a course.

However, Ragin told The Sumter Item after first-reading approval that he and other trustees were looking to reinstate the 50% grade floor because the previous board was "railroaded by that new policy" last year and it was done "a little bit behind our backs."

"Right now, we are reinstating because the way that policy was enacted was a little bit behind our backs," he said on March 28.

He was referencing previous board member and Policy Committee Chairwoman Shery White, who, acting as an individual board member and not as a recommendation from the committee, introduced a policy motion against the grade floor for first reading to the full board on June 10, 2024. Ragin, a member of the Policy Committee at that time, said he took offense in that meeting to White's actions.

White said then she had received counsel from the South Carolina School Boards Association, state Department of Education and board attorney Allen Smith before pursuing the measure.

In the weeks in March and April while the school board was deliberating on the matter, the grade floor became a hot-button issue in the community and on social media.

ZELL, PEDALINO INTRODUCE BILLS TO PROHIBIT GRADE FLOORS ACROSS S.C.

In response to Sumter school board's actions, Sumter County delegation members introduced companion bills in both chambers of the General Assembly to prohibit grade floors in South Carolina public school districts.

In early April, state Sen. Jeff Zell (R-Sumter) and Rep. Fawn Pedalino (R-Manning) sponsored new proposed legislation in the state Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, that does not allow districts to require teachers to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds the student's actual performance.

This spring at both the committee level and full board level, Sumter school board members discussed and tried to reinstate a 50% quarterly grade floor for students after the previous board removed the floor in 2024. Zell was a member of that board and was against the minimum grading policy and said it enabled mediocrity and was against the concept of work ethic.

In the November 2024 general election, he won the state Senate 36 seat and had to resign from the school board.

Zell told The Sumter Item on April 10 he delayed introducing his bill for about a month because he wanted the local school board to do the right thing, in his opinion, and not reinstate the grade floor.

In the year-plus discussion of the 50% floor in the district's grading manual, community members who spoke in public participation at board meetings overwhelmingly were against the policy, saying it did not hold students accountable or promote excellence.

Additionally, a district teacher survey administered last year showed that 83% of teachers were against the minimum grading policy.

Those trustees in favor of the 50% floor contested that the survey was sent to all district users and other employees might have completed it, even though it specifically stated only teachers were to respond. They also said a single respondent could have submitted a survey multiple times.

After the full board voted in first-reading approval to reinstate the grade floor on March 24, Zell proceeded to introduce his bill on April 3.

"I wanted to give the school district the opportunity to make the right choice, and earnestly I did," he said. "I had a lingering feeling that they would not because the ones that are proponents of this in Sumter schools are dogmatic in their approach to it. They will not relinquish, and this is a hill they are going to die on. That's fine.

"But I can't, in good conscience, sit back and hear the will of the people online and in phone calls, emails and face-to-face conversations overwhelmingly opposing this thing for reasons that I think are absolutely justified and allow this school district to just pretend that the voice of the people is not being spoken."

To the surprise of many, including Zell, Sumter's board did not pass reinstating the grade floor at second and final reading on April 7, given a 4-4 tie vote with one abstention.

Both bills were at the committee stage in mid-April and will need hearings before they can go back to the full chambers for full deliberation and votes, he said.

Companion bills streamline the entire deliberation process because they go through the chambers in tandem, Zell added.

In the deliberation process, amendments are often added to bills, and Zell said he is fine with that as long as the intent and desired results of the bill remain intact.

This year is the first of a two-year session for the General Assembly, and if the proposed legislation is not passed now, it would not have to be reintroduced next year.

WILSON HALL SENIOR NAMED NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Wilson Hall senior Sara Helen Simmons achieved one of the highest honors for a high school student in the U.S. when she was named a National Merit Scholarship award winner in late March.

The recognition only goes to about 7,140 high school seniors in the nation annually, and she is the first student to reach the finalist level at the rigorous, private college-preparatory school in seven years.

Simmons will attend Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in the fall and has career aspirations to become a neurosurgeon, she said.

Simmons is a top five student in Wilson Hall's senior class of 52 students with a 5.36 weighted GPA, which is a 4.0 on the traditional scale. She also scored a 35 on the ACT out of a maximum of 36.

CCTC PRESIDENT TO RETIRE JUNE 30

Central Carolina Technical College President Kevin Pollock has announced his retirement, effective June 30.

A lifelong educator and the head of the college since January 2021, Pollock shared his decision at a special-called meeting of CCTC's Area Commission on April 2.

"It has been a privilege and honor to serve as president of Central Carolina Technical College for the past four-and-a-half years," he said. "My years here have been incredibly rewarding, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such an amazing Titan community."

Among the college's accomplishments during his four-plus-year tenure, CCTC has added a new, $39 million Academic and Student Services Building projected to open for the fall semester in August. The three-story facility was paid for entirely by state funding.

For Pollock, Central Carolina is the third college where he has served as president. He remains committed to ensuring a smooth handover to CCTC's next leader, Pollock said.

The Area Commission is determining next steps, and more details about the transition process will be shared in the coming months, according to a college news release.

MORRIS OFFICIALS HOLD INVESTITURE CEREMONY FOR NEW PRESIDENT

Morris College Board of Trustees, alumni and staff held the official investiture, or installation, ceremony for new college President Said Sewell on April 4 on the campus grounds.

Investiture services are a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages and in more modern terms mark a new chapter of leadership for a college or university.

"This investiture signals a new day for our beloved college," Morris board Chairman Phillip Baldwin said. "Today marks a new era in academic, intellectual and spiritual leadership of an institution that has stood for more than 117 years and has in a myriad of ways shaped the course of our nation's history."

The ceremony included music and speeches from a multitude of people including Morris staff, the college's student body president and even Sewell's family priest and childhood spiritual mentor.

An ordained minister himself, Sewell began his position at the college on July 1, 2024, and is the HBCU's 11th president.