“Historic:” CCSD kicking off new school year Tuesday with full staff

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The Charleston County School District will welcome back students and a full staff of teachers on Tuesday for the first day of the 2024-2025 school year.

“This is a historic time in CCSD. I don’t recall a time where we were able to open all of our classrooms and they’d be covered by certified folks,” CCSD Superintendent Anita Huggins said during a news conference on Monday.

District leaders shared they were able to fill 547 vacancies posted this year including 82, hard to fill, special education positions.

This news comes on the heels of an $8,000 salary increase and other efforts to recruit and retain educators.

“One of our big initiatives, started in 2018, was our Pathways program. Where we were able to hire folks who had Bachelor’s degrees, who wanted to be teachers but had never gone through a teacher-ed program. So, because of that type of program, we were able to add additional teachers into our pipeline,” explained Bill Briggman, the Chief Human Resources Officer for CCSD.

This school year will be the first with a Weighted Student Funding Formula which was approved as part of the budget. Leaders also said they expanded childcare options for employees and added 18 new bus routes.

“So, every year we take a close look at the numbers of students on the busses, as well as where they’re living and that would potentially require additional routes. Another demand signal for additional routes is the traffic,” Jeffrey Borowy, CCSD’s Chief Operating Officer, said.

Superintendent Huggins said the Back to School Hotline is up and running, in addition to a new Facebook group initiative. Both serve as platforms for district families to submit questions and concerns.

According to the superintendent, they’ve received a lot of submissions regarding student attendance, after school offerings, and transportation.

“I want to thank the community in advance for the grace over the next few days as we work those things out. Tomorrow won’t be perfect for everybody but it’s going to be great for most,” Huggins added.

The hotline is open from 8 am-4:30 pm through August 14 and can be reached at 843-444-5417.

CCSD could potentially see the implementation of an Honors African American Studies course later in the school year. On Tuesday, the CCSD Committee of the Whole voted to advance the course to the next Board of Trustees meeting for consideration.