Dear District Five Family,
As our community continues its recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene’s significant impacts, I recognize that other communities within the storm’s path will face a much longer road to recovery. Recovery will look different for each family. While some parts of our school district experienced no interruption in utility services, others went without power for multiple days, traversed roads that were almost impassable, and are still dealing with property damage. As members of the community, our school district is also in the process of recovery.
During these challenging times, I am reminded of a quote by Helen Keller. When speaking about having an optimistic spirit, she stated, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” I am optimistic about the future of our district because I have seen countless times the people in our district overcoming incredible odds. Simply put, a district is defined as a distinct geographical area, but our district is defined by the people. Members of our community are committed to loving and growing our students.
To ensure the well-being of our students, our systems must meet three (3) primary benchmarks: (1) providing safe access to the school, (2) maintaining healthy school conditions, and (3) ensuring adequate staffing levels at the school. Our community united to support each other and our families in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which caused power outages in 19 out of our 25 facilities. Despite facing utility service disruptions at their homes, many of our faculty and staff volunteered to assist the schools. District staff from operations, student nutrition, custodial services, teachers, clerical support, and administration reported to work to clean and prepare our schools for the students’ return.
Every school day, our bus drivers transport over 8,000 students on 102 buses through 247 bus routes, covering a total of 1900 miles. Due to road closures, our transportation department had to assess all routes and create alternative bus stops. With this in mind, we delayed the school start times to ensure our bus drivers, staff, and students had more time to safely navigate the roads to schools. We also faced challenges with maintaining food refrigeration due to power outages. Although we were unable to secure a waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture to feed the community, our staff managed to prepare and serve 1,990 meals to students.
We are continuing to assess the effects of the hurricane on our buildings, and I’m so thankful that we didn’t experience any structural damage that kept us from opening our schools. However, we did encounter new leaks in addition to the existing ones, and our custodial and maintenance teams are working diligently to resolve these issues. I’m incredibly grateful to Dominion Energy and MidCarolina Electric Cooperative for their help in restoring power despite the high demand on their services. It was an honor to partner with them and host their linemen at Spring Hill and Chapin High Schools, and I’m so proud of the students, staff, and community members who volunteered to feed and thank these essential workers.
As required by S.C. Code Ann. § 59-1-425(B), any days missed due to severe weather must be made up. There is a common misconception that the Governor can excuse school days during a state of emergency, but in reality, waivers can only be granted after a district has made up the three required make-up days. Our local board, the state board, and the S.C. General Assembly all have the ability to waive additional days. School Districts are allowed five eLearning days, which do not count as school closures. Even though parts of the district were without power, we offered eLearning to those families who were able to participate. For those without power, we provided five school days to complete their assignments once they returned to school. This approach ensures that all students have the time to complete their work regardless of their situation. On October 11th, our schools had an eLearning day to make up for the closure on August 8th. Another make-up day is scheduled for February 17th, for the closure on September 30th. School District Five has used 2 of the 3 established make-up days and 3 of the 5 allowed eLearning days in the first nine weeks of school.
While we can’t predict what the coming hurricane or winter seasons will bring, I have every confidence that we will face whatever challenges come our way together. I’m deeply grateful for your patience, understanding, and commitment to ensuring our students return to a safe and healthy learning environment. Together, we will continue our mission to love and grow our students, no matter what.
Akil E. Ross, Sr., Ed.D.
Superintendent
