Superintendent announces school choice window opens, details enrollment, assessment results and teacher pay planning

The Charleston County School District superintendent told trustees at the Committee of the Whole meeting that the district’s school-choice application window opens tomorrow at noon and that staff are already working through enrollment, assessment data and budget models that could raise entry-level teacher pay above $60,000 in fiscal 2026.

The announcement matters because the school-choice cycle affects thousands of families’ school assignments, the district is tracking winter-to-fall assessment projections that staff say require targeted interventions, and trustees were briefed on pay strategies intended to improve recruitment and retention as leaders develop the FY26 budget.

Superintendent Angela Huggins said the school-choice department “opened from January 14th through February 21st” and emphasized the process is not first-come, first-served. “School choice window for the coming school year opens tomorrow at noon,” Huggins said, adding that all applications submitted during the window are considered equally and that families will receive seat offers or wait‑list notices through a parent dashboard. She told trustees last year’s cycle involved “about 8,000 or 8,500 applicants” districtwide.

Huggins also briefed the board on the district’s international welcome center and recent new enrollments. She said the center registered 44 new enrollees in November and December and that many of those students come from Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela and Guatemala; she noted roughly half of those newly enrolled students qualify for McKinney‑Vento services because of housing instability.

On student achievement, Huggins summarized district analysis of formative assessments. The district uses i‑Ready in many elementary grades and MAP in most middle schools; staff are comparing those formative measures to SC Ready proficiency outcomes to identify which predictors best forecast end‑of‑year results. Huggins said associates have already begun “meeting with principals to look classroom by classroom at these reading projections, teacher by teacher, student by student” and described an “urgency” to identify supports for students who need them.

Board members asked whether recent changes in the tested cohort or increases in English‑learner enrollment account for differences between fall and winter projections. Huggins and staff pointed to multiple factors — new curriculum and standards, shifting enrollment, and assessment changes — but stressed that the next step is targeted classroom interventions. Regarding language supports, Huggins said the district recently hired roughly 40 bilingual teacher assistants and expects them to help “support student growth, particularly with our ML [multilingual] students.”

Trustees spent substantial time on teacher compensation, budget timing and recruitment. Bill Brigman, who led the district’s teacher compensation task force, traced pay history and policy changes that superintendent staff said helped retain experienced teachers: “for school year 2018, the starting salary was around 38,000,” Brigman said, describing steps the board has taken since then to change the salary schedule and expand steps to 40. Chief Financial Officer Prentiss said current fiscal models show the district could provide an additional $4,000 to all teachers in FY26 without raising taxes and that entry pay could exceed $60,000; trustees were told staff are optimistic about options that could push entry pay “to almost $65,000” while maintaining a balanced budget.

Huggins outlined the FY26 budget timeline: updated revenue projections and expansion‑request reviews in February with the Audit and Finance Committee; a preliminary budget workshop in March; a draft balanced budget for first reading in May and, if needed, a second reading in June. She said a Georgetown consultant will visit district schools as part of WSF (weighted student funding) planning.

Trustees asked for more granular data on assessment results by constituent district and for additional information on how bilingual hires and wraparound supports are expected to affect outcomes. Huggins and staff agreed to provide district and school‑level breakdowns and to include a school‑by‑school follow up in the board brief.

Looking ahead, Huggins said the district will continue principal‑level, classroom‑level and student‑level analysis to inform midyear interventions and will bring refined compensation scenarios and budget models to Audit and Finance and full‑board workshops this spring.