Security, growth are top concerns as Dorchester District 2 welcomes students back to the classroom

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – New safety measures and accommodating growth are some of the top concerns for Superintendent Dr. Shane Robbins as nearly 27,000 students head back to class in Dorchester School District 2 (DD2) next week.

“I think the first day of school is exciting for employees and students because it’s always a fresh start,” said Dr. Robbins as he begins his second year as the district’s leader. “We’re going to grow about a thousand students, looks like, that’s just early forecast, but I think it’s hard to tell because a lot of our new homes being built in the community are coming online so fast, that I do think that number will be higher than what we’re forecasting.”

With nearly 27,000 students in 26 schools, enrollment has exceeded pre-pandemic numbers. Dr. Robbins said they are working with the board on a plan to accommodate future growth.

“There is a specific part of our county where we’re seeing the majority of the growth, where the schools are at or above capacity. We have three elementary schools that are over capacity right now,” he explained. “There’s really a couple of approaches we’re going to try to take in the future and that is, one: we’re going to have to look at rezoning and try to manipulate or move the student population into buildings that are not at capacity. Second thing we can do is add on to schools.  We can use learning cottages if we need to. We really don’t want to do that for any child. And the final one would be to construct new schools. I looked at the forecast, and we have a software program that looked out ten years for us. In the near future, we definitely need at least one, if not two elementary schools, and a middle school.  We’re talking about what we can do for our high schools because Ashley Ridge is already at capacity.”

And safety is always a top concern for the district.

“We’re really going to be focused on safety again this year. That’s just a nationwide issue because if we don’t focus on safety, it impedes our ability to have a good instructional environment,” he said.

The district has a new safety measure this year – Chester, the canine detector.

“Our education foundation purchased a weapons detection dog for us that will come online by the start of the school year.  It is owned by the school district, staffed by the Summerville Police Department, so we’re very excited about that opportunity,” he said.

Dr. Robbins explained that the district can also use Chester as a behavioral support animal if needed. “That’s not what it’s trained for, but that’s kind of secondary effects we can use,” he said.

The district also has a new visitor management and anonymous reporting system. “Couple of other things we’re doing, a new anonymous reporting system called “Stop It.” That will be available to our families, to our staff, to our students to report any critical situation, bullying incidents, anything that jeopardizes the safety of our campuses,” Dr. Robbins said.

DD2 is still working to fill teacher and bus driver vacancies. The superintendent says, “We’ll have the routes covered. The challenge will be how quickly we can get them to school, and how quickly we can get them home.  What I would like to express to parents, please be patient with us, and if they can help us recruit bus drivers, please do. We have signing bonuses. We will provide training for them. It’s a great opportunity.”

Dr. Robbins said DD2 has talked about modified calendars, and he says they will revisit that discussion.

“I was really trying to move it to that last year, but it will take a little time for people to understand what that means. In my previous district in South Carolina, we moved to that calendar four years ago. We moved to that calendar in Indiana in 2015. There’s a benefit for it. The state is finally acknowledging that we can do things a little differently, which I appreciate. It just has so many positive attributes to it, that I’m really hopeful we will be able to have those discussions in our community, and it will be supported.  Yes, we’ll be talking about that in the future,” he said.

Dr. Robbins’ message to his district as they begin a new year, “I kind of coined the moniker and we’ve stuck to it, “one team, one vision, one goal,” and that’s to do our best for our students and our community.”

Students in Dorchester District 2 will head back to class on Monday, August 21.