Dr. Arlene Bakutes, District Grants Coordinator, and the principals’ benefiting from a grant presented at Tuesday night’s Richland 2 School Board meeting the merits of a nearly $4.5 million grant over a three year period to Killian Elementary, Longleaf Middle and Westwood High schools. Called “Full STEAM Ahead!,” this program is a science, technology, engineering, […]
Poverty Matters
December 12, 2013 By
Poverty in Richland 2 Schools, Part 2 The ability to read at an early age is an accurate predictor for later success in school as well as in other aspects of one’s life. It has the ability to predict academic success, academic difficulty, discipline problems and drop-out rates with a fairly high level of accuracy. […]
Poverty in Richland 2
November 28, 2013 By
In an effort to improve support of its students whose families have been determined to live below the poverty rate, Richland School District 2 has made the following information available since the first of the year at school board meetings and in press releases to the media. This information consists both of raw data about […]
Hamm Takes Top R2 Job
November 12, 2013 By
Dr. Debbie Hamm, who had been serving as Interim Superintendent since the abrupt June 13 departure of former Superintendent Katie Brochu, accepted an employment contract valid thru June 2015 for an annual salary of $199,000. The motion to approve the terms was accepted 6-1 at the Richland 2 School Board meeting Tuesday night at Polo […]
Kahn Awarded Facilities Contract
October 31, 2013 By
M.B. Kahn, who has historically written the Richland 2 School District’s Long Range Facilities Plan, was awarded a $62,000 contract during the School Board’s Oct. 22 meeting at Pontiac Elementary for this year’s update. As outlined in the plan, “The primary goal is to review and update the enrollment projections in order to ensure that […]
Parents Want More Info on New School
October 10, 2013 By
Public participation was heavy at the Richland 2 School Board meeting at Longleaf Middle School Tuesday evening, with several Lake Carolina residents speaking of the need for more information before they could cast a vote for their choice of elementary schools. Elementary School #19, opening next fall, is a short walk from Lake Carolina Elementary […]
Board Reviews Test Results
September 12, 2013 By
At Tuesday evening’s Board meeting, Lyn Mueller, leader of Center For Inquiry (CFI), welcomed the Board and community to her school where she has led for 16 years. The floor to ceiling bookshelves of the meeting space were impressive – full of artwork, rocks and bones, and books written by professional and student authors. The […]
‘State of the District’ Unclear
September 5, 2013 By
The goal of educating our students for their future isn’t going to happen by throwing around phrases like ‘21st Century Skills,’ or ‘Community Partnerships’ or ‘Century Changes.’ The District must clearly define what skills our students need, what specifically a business or community member can contribute and how we clearly expect to tackle today’s changes. […]
ESEA and Richland 2
August 8, 2013 By
The South Carolina Department of Education last week released the 2013 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) rankings of school achievement. Overall, Richland 2 received a letter grade of B. While released by the state, this rating system is a federal accountability measure, formerly called the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), which was part of the […]
How Was Brochu Deal Handled?
August 1, 2013 By
Now that former Richland 2 Superintendent Katie Brochu has moved on, and the separation agreement between her and the District has been signed, it is reasonable to expect that the community has questions on the handling and terms of the separation negotiations. The generous contract that Brochu received in March of 2010 was negotiated on […]
