Charleston County School District educators, families, and community members:
Thank you for taking the time to review our district’s State Report Card. As I reflect on the 2024–2025 school year, I am filled with gratitude for a year defined by meaningful celebrations, notable achievements, and significant milestones. The most significant achievement of the past year was the remarkable progress our students made on the 2025 SC READY assessment. For the second consecutive year, students across all grade levels and student groups showed impressive gains, a testament to the commitment of our exceptional educators, staff, students, families, and partners. These SC Ready results are the highest the district has ever seen.
District-wide improvement was also evident in our graduation rate and students' college and/or career readiness. The 2024 graduation rate increased by 1.5 percentage points to 88.8%, and the college/career readiness rate grew by 6.9 percentage points to 80.5%. We have continued this upward trend, with the 2025 graduation rate increasing to nearly 90% and college/career readiness reaching nearly 85%. Both rates far exceed the state average and reflect the hard work of our educators and the potential of our students. Our success didn’t happen by chance. A shared vision, a relentless focus on putting the needs of our students first, and intentional, learner-driven instruction produced these results.
We provide our schools with high-quality resources that serve our children well. In this past year, we refined and expanded our innovative Weighted Student Funding (WSF) model to allocate resources to support all students, particularly pupils in poverty, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. This investment of $34 million proved so effective that we are increasing WSF funding by $2 million for the upcoming fiscal year, for a total of $36 million.
The approved Fiscal Year 2025–2026 (FY26) budget of $1.76 billion builds on this momentum. For the second consecutive year, we've implemented market-based salary adjustments to improve recruitment and retention. The FY26 budget includes a $4,000 raise for all teachers, and we've established a new entry-level salary of $64,782 for teachers in their first five years. These strategic investments have helped us reach a significant milestone: a teacher in every classroom on the first day of school and no current teacher vacancies.
Our commitment to continuous improvement is evident in our district's achievements. In June 2024, CCSD received system-wide reaccreditation from Cognia, the international educational accrediting agency. This accomplishment came as we sustained and improved student academic performance and growth, as well as improvements in school climate. A combined 55 schools and programs in the district were rated “Excellent” or “Good” in 2024, a significant increase from just 38 five years ago. This is the second straight year we've had more than 30 schools rated “Excellent.”
We also saw several historic achievements this year. Thomas C. Cario Middle School made history on April 30, 2025, by being the first school in the district in more than two decades to be named a Palmetto’s Finest School by the South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA). Additionally, for the second year in a row, a record number of students earned the SC Seal of Biliteracy for 2024-25. This year, we awarded a total of 747 Seals, representing twelve different languages, compared to last year's 435. To better serve our growing and diverse community, CCSD opened its International Welcome Center on the campus of Pinehurst Elementary School. The center is designed to support multilingual learners and their families as they navigate the education system by providing essential wrap-around services, from enrollment assistance to free vaccinations.
Important work remains in our mission to improve outcomes for all students. As we begin the 2025–2026 school year, our focus is on three clear priorities: learner-driven, evidence-based decision making, high-quality instruction, and professional learning communities. We want every educator to have access to actionable student data, every school to be grounded in collaborative professional learning, and every instructional decision to reflect high expectations and proven practices.
We're excited to continue partnering with local colleges and universities. In 2025-2026, we will welcome our first students to the MUSC Health Science Program at Early College High School, and we continue to support students on targeted career pathways through our unique Linking Opportunities to Classrooms and Learners (LOCAL) initiative. This program develops an ecosystem of support by directly connecting students with businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations. To align community generosity with our most urgent priorities, we've just launched the Charleston County School District Education Foundation, a philanthropic arm that will serve as a hub for innovation, investment, and partnership.
The success of our district depends on the unwavering support of our community, the commitment of our teachers, and the involvement of our families. Preparing every student for a bright and successful future remains our highest priority. As we look ahead to the 2025–2026 school year, we are reminded that at 211 degrees, water is hot; but, at 212 degrees, it boils and can produce enough steam to power a train. One extra degree of effort can make all the difference. We are united behind this simple but powerful theme: The power of one degree is the extra effort that will change CCSD. By working together, we can turn up the heat and move our school district forward.
Anita Williams Huggins
Superintendent, Charleston County School District
