STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
MOLLY M. SPEARMAN

STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION

MEMORANDUM

TO:

Andre Boyd, Superintendent

Florence School District Four
Principals, Florence School District Four

FROM: Roy M. Stehle

Director, Office of Federal and State Accountability
DATE:

February 1, 2016

RE:

2015-16 Preliminary Analysis Accreditation Reports

The 2015-16 Preliminary Analysis Reports are now available online in the Accreditation Compliance
Form application on the South Carolina Department Educations (SCDE) Website. Each school and
district must upload a written response to every question on the Preliminary Analysis Report no later than
Monday, February 22, 2016.
Each Report gives a preliminary accreditation classification of Accredited/All Clear, Accredited/Advised,
Accredited/Warned, Accredited/Probation, or Accreditation/Denied based on State Board of Education
(SBE) Regulation 43-300. The Regulation may be accessed using the following link:
http://ed.sc.gov/sbe/state-board-of-education/additional-resources/regulations-table-of-contents/
After extensive discussions with various district office personnel regarding the numerous accreditation
deficiencies and the processes in place for achieving compliance, State Accountability has determined the
following accreditation classifications for Florence School District Four.
District Office: Accredited/Probation
The district office will remain at an Accredited/Probation preliminary classification because satisfactory
progress was made even though deficiencies continue to exist for the 2015-16 school year. In addition,
there are academic and fiscal issues that impact the districts overall accreditation. Although the fiscal
issues have been a concern under the Uniform Grant Guidance and annual audits, these are newly
identified as accreditation concerns at the district level. Please note that this new identified concern for
accreditation purposes does not limit the SCDEs authority to impose restrictions under the Uniform
Grant Guidance.
Brockington Elementary: Accredited/Probation
A gifted and talented plan was proffered, however, there are concerns about the sufficiency of the
program and more research is needed. The plan was not signed, and there is no evidence it was submitted
to the local board. In addition, the program office at SCDE has conditions that need to be met for
approval. Moreover, last year the district claimed high achieving status under EFA for 5 students;
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however, this year only 1 student has been identified. As a result, this school will go to an
Accredited/Probation preliminary accreditation classification.
Johnson Middle School: Accredited/All Clear
All existing accreditation deficiencies were cleared for the 2015-16 school year; however, serious
accreditation concerns exist because of the districts rate of completion of Individualized Graduation
Plans is at 52% instead of the 100% required by law. Because this is a newly noted deficiency, we are
providing the district additional time to address it.
Timmonsville High School: Accredited/Probation
Deficiencies continue to exist with teacher certification. In addition, as with the middle school a newly
identified concern is the low rate of Individualized Graduation Plans. This school will remain at the
Accredited/Probation preliminary accreditation classification for the 2015-16 school year.
These preliminary accreditation classifications are not final and may be modified if circumstances warrant
any changes. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at rstehle@ed.sc.gov, (803) 734-8118
or Darlene Prevatt at dprevatt@ed.sc.gov, (803) 734-3477.

cc:

Darlene Prevatt
Team Leader, State Accountability