One-on-one with Charleston County School District Superintendent Anita Huggins
Today was the first day of school for 50,000 students in Charleston County, the second-largest school district in the state. News 2’s Octavia Mitchell sat down with the district’s superintendent Anita Huggins as she prepared to open schools for the first time as leader, with all classroom teacher positions covered, and a focused effort to give parents a voice.
Charleston County School District Superintendent Anita Huggins opened schools for the first time as the district’s leader Tuesday. “It’s going to be a great year in CCSD! I’m so excited! It’s a great school district, with lots of diversity,” says Huggins.
CCSD, the second largest school district in the state has around 50,000 students in 86 schools and programs. Huggins says, “I’m committed to making sure kids have what they need in our classrooms first.”
The district has 10,000 employees, and 3600 teachers, and this year, for the first time in decades, the district begins the year with all classroom teacher positions covered. “What’s notable about that too, this year we added over 225 positions due to our new initiative around the weighted student formula, so we’ve hired more teachers than ever before, and we’ve filled more classrooms than ever before. It’s an exciting time to be in Charleston County.”
New this year, Charleston County School District’s Weighted Student Formula, a new initiative, focused on how to better serve students who need support the most. Huggins says, “The Weighted Student Formula is unique to Charleston. It’s the first in South Carolina, one of the few across the nation, whose budgets use a weighted formula to allocate resources to kids.
What’s great about the WSF, all schools earned money, a wallet through the process to add support based on what they thought their students need. So, students from Wando High School in Mount Pleasant to Stall High School in North Charleston, to Jane Edwards out in District 23, all earned funding, so it’s uniform across the district, in that everyone earns, everyone just earns a different amount based on the number of students they have in those three categories, pupils in poverty, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners.”
Huggins says she’s excited the district is honoring teachers with the salaries they deserve.
“Very excited this year about teachers’ salaries. Our board of trustees back in June approved the second reading of the budget that added $8,000 to teacher salaries across the teacher salary scale. Last year, we also added $5,000. Some of that was in a bonus. So, teachers have seen an increase of $13,000 over the course of the last two years, which makes starting pay for a first-year teacher above $56,000. We attribute that to one of the reasons why we have been able to fill all our vacancies, so it’s really an exciting time here in Charleston,” says Huggins.
Superintendent Huggins is also excited about academic gains. “I’m excited to share although the results are embargoed, this district continues to make remarkable strides with children, and it’s due to the commitment of great teachers. It’s due to the commitment of great leaders, and families, and communities that wrap around and support children.”
District leaders say First Student, the district’s bus service, is working to fill bus driver vacancies and cover existing routes. Huggins says, “Be patient. Give a little grace, and we promise to work out whatever issues you and your family have, as we work hard to serve kids.”
Huggins says the district is also working on giving parents a voice and direct access to district leaders. “I would encourage parents if they have social media to engage in our new interactive Facebook page, the official CCSD parent’s page, where they get to hear directly from me, and from other chief-level officers around issues they are having.”
Superintendent Huggins says this year is a new opportunity for her to make a difference in the lives of students. She says, “What an honor and privilege for me to serve in this role. I’ve been in this district. It’s my home. It’s where my own children attend school. I love this district. I love the people in this district, and I am passionate and committed to ensuring that all children regardless of their zip code, regardless of their race are served and served well, so it’s a privilege for me to kick off this year as the leader, knowing what great things lie ahead for children.”
