School board to teachers: How can we help you?
A teacher with a student at Thornwell School for the Arts in Hartsville. PHOTO COURTESY DARLINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
The Darlington County school board last week met with several principals and teachers from district schools to ask: How can we help you run your schools while at the same time coping with COVID? “What do y’all need from the board?” asked board member Wanda Hassler during a Sept. 27 work session. “The biggest thing we do not have is personnel. Everybody is struggling to find personnel. … The teachers are burned out. What can the board to do to help motivate (them)?” “I would just say, express your support to us,” said Nicole Jones, principal of Spaulding Middle School in Lamar. “You have that,” Hassler said. “What more could we do?” Jones’ suggestions were modest. Some “professional-development days” would be useful, she said. “This is a calling,” not an ordinary job, she said. Days when teachers can unplug from the ongoing stress of running a school and conducting classes, and talk about planning, help faculty members, Jones said. “E-learning” days – when students stay home and work entirely by computer – could help provide time for that, but the state Education Department wants e-learning days reserved for emergencies, said county Education Superintendent Tim Newman. “The state is tying our hands right now,” he said. “They need to listen to what’s happening here,” said board member Jamie Morphis, suggesting that school districts press state lawmakers on issues like this. Board member Charles Govan agreed that lawmakers needed to be pushed on some issues by hearing from local people. Kathryn Abbott, principal at Carolina Elementary School in Hartsville, told the board: “We have definitely been given the opportunity to do some out-of-the-box things this year.” “We have completely redone our schedule so that we have dedicated ‘intervention blocks’ within the day” for helping students who are falling or have fallen behind, she said. “Our after-school program and our summer program were very successful, but we could only (attract) a certain number of students. Their parents had to say, ‘Yes, you can come.’ Their parents had to bring them. Their parents had to pick them up. … But during school days, we’ve got ’em” in the building already. The board has been concerned about standardized-test scores that have taken a pounding because of the 18 months of confusion and stress resulting from the COVID pandemic. Math, in particular, “took the biggest hit” for virtually everyone at all levels, Newman said.
