WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County School District received an Average overall rating on the recent 2021-2022 school report card.
Although the state spends nearly $25,000 per pupil, student achievement in Fairfield County lags behind the state average.
Fairfield Magnet School for Math & Science received an “Excellent” rating, while Fairfield Elementary was rated “Below Average.”
An “Excellent” rating means “school performance substantially exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the profile of the SC Graduate.”
“Average” ratings mean a school is meeting the criteria, while “Below Average” means a school “is in jeopardy of not meeting the criteria.”
This is the first year since 2019 that the report cards assigned ratings to individual schools. Fairfield has not been rated better than “Average” since at least 2016, report card data shows.
Despite the district’s tepid performance and Fairfield Elementary’s “Below Average” rating, district superintendent Dr. J.R. Green said the results don’t tell the full story of student achievement.
A perennial critic of the report cards, Green said during the October board meeting that Fairfield Elementary missed receiving an “Average” rating by 1 point.
Green also attributed Fairfield Elementary’s poor performance to the school having a disproportionately high number of self-contained students. He noted that many parents elsewhere in the district send their self-contained students to Fairfield Elementary.
“I am extremely proud of the work that our students and our staff have done,” Green said. “Because of this questionable system that we have, you don’t understand the exceptional impact these students have made.”
The board seemed unconcerned by the “Below Average” rating. Board member Sylvia Harrison made the only comment, which was a statement of support.
“Dr. Green, I echo what you just said,” Harrison said. “Everybody – the staff, the teachers – everybody is doing an excellent job.”
Although Fairfield Elementary was one point shy of an overall “Average” rating, the school rated “Unsatisfactory” in two categories – Academic Achievement and Preparing for Success, data shows.
“Unsatisfactory” means a school fails to meet the criteria to meet state standards.
“Average” ratings in Student Progress and School Climate offset the two “Unsatisfactory” category ratings.
Only 21.2% of Fairfield Elementary students met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts, trailing the district (38.7%) and state (46.6%) by double-digit percentage points.
Fairfield Elementary per formed lower in math, with only 1 in 15 students (15.2%) meeting or exceeding expectations, also trailing the district (27.9%) and state (38.9%).
Two Fairfield elementary schools bested the district average. Three bested the state average in English Language Arts while two bested the state in Mathematics.
Fairfield Magnet School for Math & Science was the top performer, with 74.8% meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts and 67.2% meeting or exceeding expectations in Math. The school received an “Excellent” rating.
Kelly Miller Elementary received a Good rating, with 47% meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts and 30% meeting or exceeding expectations in Math.
An “Excellent” rating on Student Progress pulled Kelly Miller’s rating higher, despite receiving an “Average” rating in Student Achievement and “Below Average” rating in Preparing for Success.
At McCrorey-Liston, 46.6% met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts and 39.7% met or exceeded expectations in Mathematics. McCrorey-Liston received an “Average” school rating.
Fairfield Middle and High schools both received “Average” ratings as well.
District-wide, the percentage of Fairfield students meeting or exceeding expectations trailed the state by double digit percentage points in most academic categories.
On the S.C. Ready Language Arts exam, Fairfield (38.7%) trailed the state (46.6%) by almost 8%. In Math, only 27.9% of Fairfield students met expectations, trailing the state (38.9%) by 11 percent.
Achievement gaps broaden for end of course tests, where 41.5% of district students scored “C” or better in English compared to 58% for the state.
In Algebra, only one in three Fairfield students (30.6%) scored “C” or better versus 44.3% statewide.
In the past 6-8 years the school system that is the superintendent the principals, and their support staff have benefitted greatly. The teachers and the students NOT SO MUCH. are you wondering why we are where we are? When we spend $25,000 on each student! That would come down to every 4 students’ $100.000 dollars multiplied by one teacher and no auxiliary staff in a classroom of more than 20 students which is approximately $500,000 per classroom. Does anyone on this planet think the cost are justified knowing what the results are????