Entry Archive

I told Toby near the end of April that I would see her in June.  May is that month of the year that consumes those of us in the school business.  There are plays, concerts, ball games, board meetings, banquets, awards ceremonies, celebratio...

Before the recession, school district budgeting was not quite the bear it is today.  Each January, the House Ways & Means Committee would announce the amount they planned to fund the Base Student Cost (BSC), a primary piece of district reven...

Troy Moore, our Director of Technology, recently reported to the Board the upgrades being made across the Disrict in terms of wireless access, increased RAM in certain machines, replacement of certain machines, and increased bandwidth.  Yesterda...

  The Board met in public session last evening with a standing room only crowd of parents and boy scouts in attendance at the beginning of the meeting.  The Oakland Elementary Choir opened our meeting with several songs about friendship an...

Last evening, with thunder clouds rolling in outside, seven area families were recognized at a dinner at the Upstate Family Resource Center for bringing a foreign exchange student into their homes this year.  In collaboration with the EF Foundat...

It has been a very good week in District Two.  I enjoyed seeing the BSHS softball and baseball teams win their games against rival Byrnes Tuesday evening, we had a great conclusion to our Accreditation visit Wednesday afternoon, the Aaron Brown ...

In late 2009, Aaron Brown, one of several Boiling Springs High School Student Council members, approached the principal, Chuck Gordon, about a dream they were ready to tackle: they were commiting to raise $65,000 and build a "Habitat for Humanity" ho...

This past Sunday afternoon, six educators from South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana arrived in Spartanburg to begin their verification of the documentation we submitted regarding our five-year accreditation renewal process.&...

This past Monday evening we celebrated at a banquet at the district office with our induction teachers, a group of about 35 first year practitioners, for completing our induction teacher course and getting so far through their initial year of teachin...

There was a poster in the 1970s that show a weary teacher sagging in a chair at the end of a long day.  The caption says, "No one ever said teaching was going to be easy."  Late March is that time of year that many educators need a boo...

Three different events happened in the life of our District yesterday that reminded me of a sermon I heard one time based on a bumper sticker that said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." First, the 50 voice strong Hendrix In...

Every once in a while, people have a tendency to get a little down over certain circumstances in their lives and begin to count obstacles instead of blessings.  Well, I do, anyway.  And I should not; a major responsibility of lead...

Have you driven past the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on John Dodd Road just over I-26?  That place is huge!  At 1.2 million square feet, it looks like it is a half-mile long and 300 yards deep.  And they are employing quite a few peo...

The Board of Trustees and I were privileged to hear Dr. Gerrita Postlewait at the South Carolina School Boards Association Conference this past weekend.  Dr. Postlewait is currently serving as a consultant to the Council of Chief State School Of...

Last week we emailed a Survey Monkey to our parents asking them what would work best for their schedules for parent-teacher conferences as we put together our calendar for the 2013-14 school year.  We received 496 responses and some interesting ...

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of a superintendent quite like the “opportunity” to rezone school attendance areas (calling off school for bad weather is a close second).  We have done this a couple of times in our District since...

Quarterly, the superintendent meets with advisory groups to discuss issues and gain insight into our work.  There is the Teacher Forum consisting of the latest two teachers-of-the-year from every school; a student group consisting of two student...

At a meeting of our Teacher Forum in November, a concern was voiced that when we held our Parent-Teacher Conferences in October, we always schedule them for a Wednesday and Thursday evening.  In our area, Wednesday is church night for many famil...

Tuesday morning, the Multi-Cultural Club at Boiling Springs High School presented their annual assembly to the entire student body.  What an awesome event!  The gym stands were filled with about 1800 students who, for about an hour and a ha...

Friday morning I attended the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce's Annual Economic Forecast Breakfast at USC Upstate.  They hold focus groups from construction and real estate, utilities and telecommunications, retail, K-12 and higher education, ma...

Superintendents from around the state meet in Columbia for a Roundtable each month.  Two special guests spoke to us in our meeting yesterday.  The first was Chief Mark Keel of the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the second was Geo...

Monday evening, Swofford held their Spring Open House.  For about two hours, I was able to visit with instructors, parents, students and potential students as they walked from classroom to classroom.  That school is absolutely meeting the n...

The Boiling Springs High School Competition Cheer Team had their awards banquet last evening, and Mrs. Mercer and I were invited.  What a nice occasion!  Along with a wonderful meal, there was video of a competition when many on the team we...

Most of the 50 states have signed onto the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) movement, and I believe that it would have been much better for education in this country if we had done this instead of going through the whole "No Child Left Behind" (NCL...

The national debate rages on about steps to take to protect our children.  Should certain types of guns and weapons be outlawed?  Should police be stationed in every school?  Do we have a need for additional mental health counselors?&n...

Following the incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we consciously decided not to send a district-wide School Messenger phone call to our parents as we did not wish to raise fears of small children who might answer the call.  But we heard fr...

Today's tragedy is heartbreaking.  How we take care of our children is an indicator of the health of a society.  If we do not take care of the helpless and defenseless among us, we will not flourish.  That adults could take their frust...

I love Dave Ramsey.  He begins his nightly radio show with "...where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice."  Too bad our federal government has not lived b...

When looking at next year's calendar, I had an idea I thought was grand.  Teachers often express the concern that they do not have enough time to get their classrooms ready at the beginning of the school year.  In the five days we have avai...

Seven employees from the State Department of Education spent Wednesday and Thursday in our offices performing an audit of our program for special needs students.  As mentioned in an earlier post, no one eagerly anticipates an audit, primarily fo...

This past weekend, five members of our Board of Trustees and I attended a two-day South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA) conference along the coast.  The purpose of the conference was to bring school board members and legislators toget...

Dr. Eric Hayler, an employee of the BMW manufacturing plant and parent of one of our students (and another preschooler), spent three mornings with us this week pro bono.  He worked with a cross functional team of a dozen of us from personnel, fi...

Most U.S. taxpayers, even those among us who strive to complete our tax returns with the utmost integrity, fear the thought of getting a letter in the mail calling for us to gather our documentation and go to the local Internal Revenue Service office...

On the day before we begin our Thanksgiving Holiday, it is especially appropriate to count our blessings.  You have often heard me extol the virtues of living and working in this place.  Here are a few more reasons why: Our 2012 ...

There was a T-shirt in the 1970s that said, "If it wasn't for P.E., I'd quit school."  While we strive to make our academic course offerings engaging, many students absolutely live for the extracurricular activities we provide at school.  L...

If you have read this blog in the past, you know I have great respect for members of the military and veterans of the armed services.   State law requires that schools have a program each year on Veteran's Day to honor those men and women a...

Some people will bend over and pick up a penny they see in a parking lot;  I am one of those.  Yesterday morning while walking my neighborhood before work, I found a box of pennies.  We have checked with several of the neighbors, but n...

I admit it.  I am a little embarrassed by it, but I admit it.  I read the "Dear Abby" column just about every day.  I am not sure why, but have been doing it since I was a child.  Some days the writers asking for advice seem flaky...

Thomas E. Lewis, my father-in-law, is an interesting man.  He played football and ran track at East Fairmont High School in West Virginia in the 1950s, married his high school sweetheart a few days after graduation and made his living for years ...

While on a walk-through of Hendrix Elementary School last Friday, we came upon this promise newly painted on the wall pictured below.  The principal, Dawn Neely, got this idea from a similar dedication that we observed when the administrative te...

A friend of mine told me about a book I read this week, Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand.  It is the biography of a true American hero, Louie Zamperini, a bombardier on a B-24 during WWII.  The pictures below ...

My wife has a plaque on the wall in our home that reads, "An attitude of gratitude creates blessings."  What I have read about the importance of gratitude and have confirmed in my own life indicates those words are true.  It always fee...

Our practice in District Two over the past eight years has been to hold a discussion each June and October between District instructional leaders and principals to talk about results and issues in a continuing effort to improve.  In the Fall con...

Monday evening, the Boiling Springs High School Chorus under the direction of Dennis Stepp performed their fall concert in the Boiling Springs Middle School auditorium to a full house and with a packed stage.  Several different ensembles sang a ...

Every year in October, the three career centers in Spartanburg County collaborate to host a breakfast for our area legislators.  The purpose is to show them appreciation for the work they do in Columbia, to express ideas we may have about upcomi...

This post will probably elicit more responses than normal, and I am certainly hoping to hear whether or not teachers think I am spot on or all wet. There has been some negativity not only in South Carolina, but nationally about the teaching professi...

We have five measurable goals in Spartanburg Two that challenge us as we strive to educate our youngsters.  Click on the link below to get a copy of the summary sheet provided to the Board of Trustees at their September meeting listing our resul...

The recently completed (all but the punch list) additions/remodeling of the $4.6 million project at Swofford Career Center was dedicated in an open house and ceremony at the school last evening.  Below are my remarks commemorating the event: Sw...

The Economic Policy Institute published a briefing paper in 2010 entitled, Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers.  You can find the entire 29-page report by clicking on the link below. Among the ten contribu...

At a meeting last week of superintendents from around the state in Florence, we heard Dr. Tammy Pawloski, Director of Francis Marion University's Center of Excellence, speak about what brain researchers are saying about the impact of poverty on learn...

Mike Schmoker, renowned education author, speaker, and consultant, wrote an article in the August 29 edition of Education Week entitled, The Next Education Fad: Complex Teacher Evaluations That Don't Work.  Like all of his writing, it just ...

We have had a smooth first two weeks of school again this year, and I am beginning to figure out one reason why. For the past ten days, I have seen many of our schools working with students on procedures, knowing where things are in the building, re...

Just last week, I heard a discussion on a radio program in which parents were giving advice on what to teach your children to do when they see others being bullied; that is always an awkward position to find oneself, and the advice was soli...

As promised in my last post, here is a link to the 24-page "Educator Evaluation and Support Guidelines" posted by the State Department of Education last month.  The SCDE's plan is to implement this plan this year with the teachers and princ...

This space is a tool to communicate with both our employees and the community about what the superintendent is thinking about.  If you are one of those who regularly visits, you know I have articulated opinions crit...

Spartanburg Two had our opening convocation this afternoon that was truly inspiring and rewarding, to me.  After an "Italian Feast" provided by Chartwell's, we gathered in the Boiling Springs Middle School auditorium for rewards and recogni...

Just before noon today, during the first three days of our year-long induction teacher class, it was my honor to speak to our 33 new hires getting ready for their first year of teaching. From the interaction I witne...

Our custodial service provider met with our cleaning staff for some training this morning in the cafeteria at the Boiling Springs High School 9th Grade Campus.  After a Chick-fil-A breakfast and he and Gracin Watson, a rising senior at Chesnee H...

We learned today that the U.S. Department of Education has accepted South Carolina's request for waivers from some of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.  That is the news we have been waiting for since NCLB was passed in 2001...

Toby and I became grandparents when our son married Madison's mother.  We have loved her since she was two.  Well, today Madison was joined by a baby brother, Connor.  Mother and baby (and grandfather) are doing well. As I held t...

Aaron Christopher Brown, 18, 2012 graduate of Boiling Springs High School, passed away from injuries received in a car accident this past Friday on Old Furnace Road.  His mother is the bookkeeper at BSHS, his father is a teacher and co...

Two special events occurred in the District today.  Melinda Long, author of such favorite children's books as, When Papa Snores, Hiccup Snickup, and How I Became a Pirate, came to our Summer Learning Academy South where we had over 300 of our st...

The smoke has not quite cleared in Columbia, but one can see the outline of the hills.  The Governor returned and explained her $67.5 million worth of budget vetoes this past Friday, and the legislature will return next Tuesday and Wednesda...

Under Kim Ashby's leadership and with Title I funding, we are doing summer school differently for our elementary students this year.  Yes, as usual, they are the students that need a little extra help.  But we changed some things:  The...

The legislature's major task each year is to provide and fund a budget in order for state government to function.  As you can imagine, the decisions they make have a huge impact on what we are able do. The budget is, by law, ...

The news came yesterday that James H. Hendrix had passed away at the age of 92.  It was a sad day for us in District Two, the place Mr. Hendrix served as superintendent from 1957-1985.  His 28 years leading the District is among the lo...

If all you read was the front page headline in this morning's newspaper, "District 2 in violation of Title IX," you might wonder what in the world is going on.  "Do they not know they are supposed to treat all students fairly?"  Well, ...

About once a month I travel to Conway to visit my 85-year-old father and to do chores he can no longer handle.  This past weekend, he had me powerwashing his eaves and gables, painting his shed, and felling, cutting up and carting off four pine ...

You can see the picture of our administrative team taken at Fort Jackson this past Tuesday on the website.  Our purpose in going there was to sharpen our leadership skills and grow as a team.  That happened and so much more. After arrival,...

There have been several books in my lifetime that have been game changers for me.  An early one was The Almighty and the Dollar by Jim McKeever I found about 30 years ago in a Christian bookstore in Salisbury, Maryland.  It impacted how a y...

Hendrix International Baccalaureate School third graders did research on pollution and the environment this past quarter.  Tuesday, for a culminating activity, they set up displays of their work in the gymnasium and invited the rest of the ...

Last evening was the culmination of months of planning by the Teacher Forum representatives of the seven Spartanburg school districts when a candidate forum was held at the Dorman Arena.  My estimate is there were probably 1,500 people, mostly e...

For about the past fifteen years, Boiling Springs High School has held a “Legacy” event at the end of the year for their top dozen or so seniors who invite a teacher (elementary, middle or high) who has had a positive impact on their live...

Boiling Springs Middle School has named their induction teacher program TIPIT for "Transforming the Instructional Performance of Induction Teachers."  Yesterday afternoon, they celebrated the end of of the first year's journey of their seven new...

Two events I attended yesterday provided a point/counterpoint lesson to me on the value of being goals oriented. First, Boiling Springs Intermediate welcomed about 450 rising 4th and 5th graders for an orientation event complete with the chorus and ...

In the past few years, we have put some amazing programs and practices into place in District Two.  We have added the International Baccalaureate program at Hendrix Elementary.  Over thirty of our high school students are in the Scholars Ac...

Our District is in the process of examining our vision and processes for continuous improvement in preparation for our SACS/CASI accrediation visit next spring.  In order to refamiliarize myself with that process, I volunteered to part...

Tuesday afternoon, our Education Policy Fellows spent time on Capitol Hill.  We had interaction with Janice Poda, former Deputy Superintendent at the South Carolina Department of Education and now with the Council of Chief State School Officers ...

As part of the South Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program, I am with our group in Washington, DC, this week interacting with other Policy Fellows from 11 states and DC.  Monday, we heard from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Chief of...

Spartanburg County is extremely fortunate to have had the community and local government support to build the Miracle League Park several years ago as part of the facilities at the North Spartanburg complex in Boiling Springs.  Its painted, cush...

We are in the process of recommending candidates to the Board of Trustees to fill the positions of Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Quincie Moore who has become the superintendent in Cherokee County and for Assistant Superin...

Last Thursday was the annual “Terrific Kids” awards luncheon sponsored by the Spartanburg and Boiling Springs Kiwanis Clubs.  It was held at Spartanburg First Baptist Church and was complete with chicken tenders, green beans and maca...

It has been a while since this page has been updated.  I hope you had a wonderful Easter and that if you had vacation time, it was enjoyable to you.  The Mercers had grandparents and grandchildren over, our family went tent campin...

One phrase that is bandied about way too often and that upsets me every time I hear it is, "South Carolina is 50th in the country in education."  I heard something very similar to that spoken last evening by a legislator on the floor of the Sout...

The District honored our first year teachers this past Monday evening with a wonderful banquet prepared by a team of our own cafeteria staff.  The menu was tossed salad, rolls, chicken, pork loin, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, cheesecake ...

Boiling Springs Intermediate School hosted the Palmetto State Gender Education Institute on Saturday the 10th.  They had over 220 attendees from all corners of the state.  Principal Tammy Greer credits Assistant Principal Josh Patterson and...

The Spartanburg Little Theatre put on a fantastic production of Titanic: A New Musical the past two weekends at the Chapman Cultural Arts Center.  Toby and I were able to attend Friday evening.  What an awesome production!  The acting,...

Dr. Quincie Moore, our Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, will be leaving us the first of April to assume the superintendency in neighboring Cherokee County.  At our Board meeting Tuesday evening, I offered some reflections on her and her ...

Each year, the South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA) organizes "A Day at the Capitol" inviting school board members, superintendents and other interested parties to Columbia in order to initiate conversations with our legislators.  Th...

It was my honor to sit next to Patti Hardee, our District Two Teacher of the Year, her husband and her principal at the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting last week.  Ms. Hardee was recognized along with other area T.O.Y.s and s...

It is never questioned when experts say something to the effect of, "Schools Cannot Do It Alone."  We need collaboration from businesses, from civic groups, and from volunteering parents who do everything from fund raise to tutor.  Every st...

During school walk-throughs this week, I encountered marvelous examples of teachers working their magic in three areas we have focused on in this District over the past few years. First, a strong curriculum is in place.  No longer are textbooks...

Every member of the Spartanburg Two Board of Trustees and I were privileged to attend the South Carolina School Board Association's Annual Convention this past weekend.  There were some powerful and articulate speakers with clear messages for sc...

As part of the South Carolina Education Policy Fellows Program, I spent an interesting day in Columbia Tuesday.  Our group of about 25 met at the Blatt Building where the State House Representatives' offices and meeting rooms are located.  ...

Every day is a good day, depending upon one's attitude.  But I really had a good day Thursday. It started with a breakfast reception at Boiling Springs Middle School who was honoring their contingent of Jr. Scholar award winners.  They are...

When the Board of Trustees meets each month, we always have a group of students perform before we begin the regular agenda.  They serve as an instant reminder to the Board and administration of our District's motto, "Students First!"  Just...

It was my privilege to address the fine arts teachers from all over Spartanburg County this past Friday morning as they gathered at the Chapman Cultural Center for a day of staff development.  It was also a joy to be in that wonderful facility u...

It was a great day in District Two today!  For the first time in several years, we were able to actually have a full day of staff development on our February date as we have had no hazardous weather days to steal it from us. Our assistant princ...

This past Sunday, the editorial in the Spartanburg Herald Journal was entitled, "State's Obligation Is To Improve Public Schools, Not Make Alternatives Affordable:  Tax Credits And Private Schools."  It was refreshing to read the insig...

This past Tuesday evening, my wife and I went to dinner with our son and his wife and Madison, our 9-year-old granddaughter.  We were at a steak house, and Madison was the last to order.  She asked for a hamburger and fruit. ...

Sometimes all one needs is someone willing to listen.  Last week, Representative Trey Gowdy sent his legislative assistant, Christopher Ingraham, to visit individually with superintendents in Spartanburg County.  In preparation for our conv...

Five years ago, one of my nieces in West Virginia gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy.  There was one big problem, though; she was 15.  But through outstanding support of her family, their church, and her teachers, that little fello...

Monday evening, in the Tukey Auditorium at USC-Upstate, three South Carolina State Department of Education employees gave a PowerPoint overview of the ESEA waivers document that the SDE is submitting to the the U.S. Dept of Education in order to...

The Board of Trustees, school principals, and several District Office staff members honored our schools’ teachers of the year and their spouses at a dinner last evening.  It was a wonderfully gratifying event as this group of 15 teachers, ...

Sometimes educators feel singled out for the ills of society.  Read the newspaper or turn on the news and you often find someone complaining that schools do a poor job of educating our children.  Our political leaders used to call to see wh...

A group of third graders representing the student body of Cooley Springs Fingerville Elementary School met in the media center this morning to accept the award for the Christmas Reading Challenge.  Our elementary schools compete to see who ...

One of the neat things about being in education is that we have two times per year to start anew; January 1 and the first day of school in August.  Attached is an exercise I will be leading our principals and district leadership team through tom...

For children, Christmas is a magical time of year.  It is one of the privileges of being in the school business as we see the wonder and excitement as our youngest learners shiver with anticipation.  For some of our fam...

  More than 900 business, governmental, non-profit and educational leaders from across our state gathered in Columbia on November 30th for the second annual Liberty Fellowship Summit.   The afternoon-long event was designed to focus on ...

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, and the flags flying at half staff brought my Uncle Norwood to mind.   Norwood Borror was my mother’s brother, and he passed away two years ago this month.  He was 89 years old and a veteran of WW II. ...

Dr. Yong Zhao from the University of Oregon and author of Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization, spoke to about 500 educational, political, and business leaders in Columbia on November 3.  He presented a ...

Change is hard.  It just is.  But it is also necessary and is one of the constants in life.  I am not one to change something that is working well, but if there is a better way, we need to do what is best.   Our Finance Director...

Mike Schmoker wrote the book Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning (2011) that our principals read this summer.  At the instigation of our Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, Dr, Quincie Moore, and her team, we r...

I had a great 40 minutes or so at Boiling Springs Intermediate School this morning.  It was Community Readers Day and, invited to read beginning at 8:00 AM, I got there a little early; enjoyed seeing quite a few fathers downing  Krispy Krem...

In the early 1980s, while taking a leadership class for a master's degree at WVU, our professor worked us through several "in-box" simulations.  We were a group of young teachers training to be principals, and he gave us 20 situations we co...

The South Carolina Education Association has put together a little tip sheet for parents on helping their children with reading.  Here are those seven tips:·         Have your child read aloud to yo...

Recently a mother emailed a question to me.  As part of her email, she asked,   “Is there a particular reason that the District 2 elementary schools assemble in classrooms between 7:30 am and 7:40 am each day?  Has there ever b...

When I was a freshman in high school, our Civics class teacher assigned an Election Day poster project to us.  With a yardstick, I drew the word VOTE in large block letters on white poster board.  Armed with red, white, and blue glitter and...

It was an honor for me to hear Diane Ravitch speak at The Riley Institute at Furman University one evening a couple of weeks ago.  She is a prolific writer (over 20 books), and served as the assistant secretary of education during the George Bus...

Five years ago, the District was faced with a decision on what to do with the then soon-to-be-empty Boiling Springs Middle School on Old Furnace Road.  We were building the new Intermediate School on Hanging Rock Road, and this building that had...

It was my pleasure to attend the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce's 2011 Minority Enterprise Celebration Awards Dinner at the Marriott last evening.  Chris Cooper, a senior at Boiling Springs High School, was honored with the "Rising Star of...

Jason Leto and Marguerite Jones with the South Carolina Education Association's (SCEA) Uniserv representation met with me yesterday; it was refreshing to understand again that their organization, like the Palmetto State Teachers Association (PST...

Leadership Spartanburg is a program sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce each year that educates participants on the various aspects that make Spartanburg County what it is.  Over the course of a year, one day per month will be spent exploring t...

In the early 1980s, I was a physical education teacher for a few years, and stories were beginning to be publicized about childhood obesity.  Frankly, at the time, I did not see it.  There were a few students in my 450-student K-8 school th...

If you have not had the experience of spending some time in our schools, I hope that you will take the opportunity. From time to time, our administrators take visitors on tours as they are deciding where to purchase homes as the education of their ch...

District Goals Progress 2011 Each year, the administration recommends goals to the Board of Trustees and, through a collaborative process, a set is agreed upon establishing our course for the year. Attached are the goals we prepared this past Januar...

From my recollection of American history, democracy was a grand experiment in government. The writers of the Constitution were brilliant men who, with amazing insight and forethought, created a style of governance that had never existed. Comments I r...

My mother loved to sing the alto part. When I was a child, she was a member of several barbershop groups that would often meet at our home to practice their a cappella singing with those rich and close harmonies; I have fond memories of those da...

Spartanburg School District 2 Initiatives Attached is a two-page document that gives an overview of (1) our philosophy on the written, taught, and assessed curriculum and how those three important pieces of the puzzle interact to produce learni...

A couple of years ago I heard a teacher in a faculty meeting say, "I am not overwhelmed.  I am whelmed, but I am not overwhelmed."  Since I began teaching in the 1970s, teachers have always had their hands full trying their best to meet the needs ...

Employees of District Two should have received a School Messenger recorded phone call last evening between 7:30 and 8:00 PM from Connie Smith, our Board Chair.  If you did not, please let your supervisor know so that we can recheck our telephone...

What a wonderful evening we had at the UFRC this past Tuesday!  Our Center, which has been in operation since January 2007 at the old Boiling Springs Middle School campus, meeting the needs of families, exists through the generosity of grantors ...

Along with the state governorship change in 2002, the assault on public education in South Carolina began. Bills were introduced in the legislature that would divert precious resources to fund private school tuitions. Groups such as South Carolinians...

Last year, with only a $1,617 base student cost (BSC) provided to us by the state, we furloughed all 190-day+ employees for five days and 240-day administrators for ten days. We reduced the salaries of our working retirees by 15%. Along with other co...

While reading the Bible one recent morning, I came upon the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. If you recall, he had been sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt and was put in jail after being wrongly accused, but found he had a gift from Go...