Dear students, parents and community members:

My second year as the Beaufort County School District’s superintendent was certainly unprecedented as we navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. This report card looks back at the 2020-21 academic year which, for the first time ever, had both virtual and in-person year-long options for students.

The year started virtually for all students, transitioned to hybrid, and then to in-person schooling five days a week for those who desired it.  On average, we had approximately 30 percent of our students learning virtually at year’s end, with the remaining 70 percent learning in our school buildings. 

As we navigated these transitions and new challenges, I was incredibly proud of how our district staff, educators, and students responded.

The district’s high school graduation rate for 2020-21 was 88.5 percent – up from 85.7 percent the prior year.

Every fall, the AP Program recognizes high school students who have demonstrated outstanding college-level achievement through their performance on multiple AP Exams. The district’s AP scholar awards for 2020-21 increased from 286 in 2019 to 327 for this year, an increase of 14.3 percent. 

Hilton Head Island High School is listed among South Carolina’s Top 10 high schools in 2020 rankings by U.S. News and World Report magazine.  Three of the district’s high schools are ranked in South Carolina’s Top 30, and all six are ranked in the state’s top half.

Battery Creek High School was certified and named as a Leader in Me Lighthouse School by FranklinCovey Education based on the quality of the school’s student leadership programming modeled after the best-selling book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

May River High School and Robert Smalls International Academy were authorized to offer students prestigious international academic programming that prepares them for the rigor of college. Part of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, the Cambridge International Secondary Program is offered for students ages 11 to 19. Battery Creek High School will be kicking off their second year of the curriculum this fall.

The South Carolina Department of Education designated the Beaufort County as a Military Purple Star School District in recognition of its dedicated programming and school resources in support of military families.

Our district was awarded a $12.8 million Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education, to be distributed over five years. The grant project, named Med-Tech 7, is focused on seven schools in the Beaufort and Whale Branch clusters, each of which will implement evidence-based whole school arts integrated programming through Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) curricula.

Our college scholarship program – the Building a Better Beaufort Scholarship, also called “B3” – pays up to two years of tuition costs at the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) for qualified local high school graduates. Additionally, the district had its largest dual enrollment at TCL and the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) during the 2020-21 academic year to include summer courses. Teachers also took advantage of core-content courses offered through USCB as well.

As a result of the district’s $344 million bond referendum approved in 2019, the 2020-2021 school year began with the completion of the artificial turf football fields at Beaufort High and Whale Branch Early College High School. By January 2021, the additions at May River High School and River Ridge Academy were being enjoyed by teachers and students.  At the end of the school year, almost half of the referendum projects were under contract. All of which are under the watchful eye of the Citizen Led Oversight Committee, which meets to review and scrutinize the progress of the referendum projects.  

The school district’s financial operations remain in good hands. Over the past 20 years, the district has never had a negative finding in any of its annual independent audits. In addition, the district’s finance staff has earned a national award for excellence from the Government Finance Officers Association for 29 consecutive years.

Moody’s Investors Service again assigned the Beaufort County School District an Aa1 underlying credit rating, its second-highest possible score. Only Greenville County School District, South Carolina’s largest school system, which is boosted by a business and industry heavy tax base, is rated equally to the Beaufort County School District by the agency.

The Beaufort County School District, like school districts across the nation right now, is challenged by achievement gaps relating to students’ poverty levels, ethnicity, or disabilities. Reducing and eliminating these achievement gaps is a critically important and constant focus for us. After a careful analysis of student achievement data, we reallocated resources to better serve schools where achievement gaps are particularly problematic.

Other long-range challenges include recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and accommodating growing numbers of students in the southern part of the county. As a retainment measure, the district provided free childcare to employees during the 2020-21 school year, as well as counselling services as part of an employee support campaign, #BCSDYouMatter.

Our most obvious challenge during the 2020-21 academic year was navigating the COVID-19 pandemic with instruction taking place both virtually and in-person.  Our amazing teachers and school staff enabled instruction to continue in various modalities. Additionally, since March of 2019 more than 3 million free meals were distributed to Beaufort County children by the school district and its food services partner, Sodexo. Moreover, our resilient students and their hard-working parents stepped up to the plate and did some amazing work. For that, they have my sincere appreciation and thanks.

The patience and determination we’ve seen from our students, parents, employees, and community members give me confidence that together, we can embark on our academic recovery efforts this year in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on student achievement. This is a challenge that districts across the state and nation are facing, and that BCSD is certainly prepared to address with aligned resources for student instructional needs. 

Frank Rodriguez, Ph.D., Superintendent