Charleston County students head back to class

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The first bell of the 2023-24 school year will ring Wednesday morning for the Charleston County School District’s nearly 50,000 students.

As the district begins a new year, it also welcomes a new leader — Dr. Eric Gallien was hired as superintendent over the summer and officially assumed the role in early July.

Dr. Gallien said one of his main priorities for the Charleston County School District is to hire highly qualified teachers. Something that comes amid a nationwide teacher shortage.

“We’re going to stick to the core and we’re going to make sure we carry out our priorities, which is really to make sure our teachers are highly qualified and receive professional development and implement restorative practices and make sure every student is getting a high-quality education,” he said during an interview with News 2’s Octavia Mitchell.

The district is actively working to fill about 37 teacher vacancies. In the meantime, Dr. Gallien said they will utilize substitute teachers as school gets underway.

“HR is diligently working to fill the vacancies we have, and making sure every school is fully staffed. We have plans in place to make sure those schools are supported, and we have substitute teachers in line for those schools to start with, but I’m confident our HR department will come through and fill those vacancies,” he said.

The district also said they have about 96% coverage for bus routes.

As for security, Dr. Gallien said that the district is working to hire additional security and add metal detectors to more schools.

“We have made the purchase of metal detectors. They are not fully implemented in every school.  We do have them in stock in storage, but we have not fully implemented them because it requires staffing,” Dr. Gallien explained. “We’re looking at getting some additional resource officers in our schools and considering contracting with a private company to fill the gaps.”

In addition to teacher pay raises, certified classroom teachers will receive more time to plan instruction during the school year. An item passed in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget in July will allow teachers eight and a half days of planning that would be covered by a substitute.

District leaders notified admin and staff regarding the decision recently. Plans for each school will be developed during the first part of the new school year.

That additional planning time could be used to prepare scripts for lessons, review students’ work to identify gaps, or reviewing climate data to look at trends and possible solutions to stabilize classroom environments.

“If we can provide our teachers with more opportunities to grow and strengthen their craft, our students will benefit tremendously. We are seeing significant progress throughout CCSD in student proficiency in literacy and moderate progress in math, and this decision will augment that progress while creating an atmosphere our teachers will authentically be a part of,” said Interim Chief Academic Officer Michelle Simmons.

According to the district, the extra planning time for all teachers in CCSD is in addition to state law that now requires all elementary and special education teachers to receive 30 minutes of encumbered time during each regular day.

CCSD is one of the last in the Lowcountry to open for the new school year. Many neighboring districts have moved to modified schedules this year or are in discussions to make the change by the 2024-25 school year.

The Charleston County School District is considering four calendar options for next year.

Calendar 1 is a traditional calendar with a mid-August start date, a five-day Thanksgiving break, a 10-day winter break, and a five-day spring break.

The second option is also a traditional calendar with a mid-August start date and an additional week of vacation built into the year at the beginning of March.

‘Calendar 3 would send students back to school in early August but provide two additional weeks of vacation. Those would take place in October and February.

Calendar 4 would also start the school year in early August. This option would ensure the first semester ends prior to winter break and the school year would end in May.

A back-to-school hotline is now open for parents and guardians. District staff members will be on hand to answer calls and help families prepare for the new school year.

The hotline can be reached by calling 843-444-5417 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. through Friday.