Aiken County Public Schools achieved a statewide honor on the 2019 district report card ratings with 80% of the district's schools showing gains and improvements in student achievement.
The district had the highest percentage of excellent, good and average schools among the state's 10 largest districts, according to a news release from the Aiken County Public School District. The S.C. Department of Education released the report card ratings Tuesday.
The academic gains in the report card ratings show Aiken County Public Schools are “succeeding at record levels” as all three instructional levels saw marked improvement, according to the release. Even “more noteworthy” is what’s missing from this year’s report card ratings: No Aiken County Public Schools rated “Unsatisfactory,” according to the release.
“There are so many things to celebrate it’s difficult to know where to start,” interim Superintendent King Laurence said in the release. “Obviously, we’re thrilled with the significant increases in overall performance ratings. It’s clear evidence that we’re delivering on the promise that in Aiken County there will be no ‘have and have not’ schools.
“Performance has increased at every single level – elementary, middle and high school – and for the first time in a very long time, we have no schools rated as ‘Unsatisfactory’ in Aiken County.”
Best in more than a decade
Some schools, including Oakwood-Windsor Elementary, J.D. Lever Elementary, Redcliffe Elementary and East Aiken School of the Arts, earned “Good” ratings, which had not happened at the schools during the 15 years of the S.C. Report Card ratings, Laurence said in the release.
“Wagener-Salley High School received its first ‘Good’ rating in 13 years,” Laurence said.
Among Aiken County Public Schools, 97.6% of schools – the best of the top 10 state districts – received ratings of “Excellent,” “Good” and “Average,” followed by Dorchester Two at 95.8%, Richland Two at 94.4% and Greenville County at 94.2%.
According to the report cards, the district also has the lowest cost per pupil expenditure of the 10 largest school districts in the state. The district's cost per student is $8,988, followed by Dorchester School District Two at $9,027 and Greenville County School District at $9,239.
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