Parents and residents raise grading, traffic and school support concerns at Newberry County board meeting

Three members of the public who signed up to speak during the Feb. 24 public forum asked the board to address grading practices for early grades, traffic safety near Mid Carolina Middle School and to recognize district successes.

Joanne Schmidt, a recent arrival to Newberry County, told the board she was “blown away” by student performance and urged trustees to support district leadership and its vision for students. "This is the most impressive school performance thing I have ever seen," she said.

Nicole Burrows told the board she had communicated with board members, principals and teachers and asked the board to "remove a weighted grading metric from first and second graders." Burrows described an example where a single test counted for a disproportionately large share of a student's grade, saying that her son's math grade was driven down by one poor test day. "This is not a state standard, no one's dictating it to us, we are choosing this, and it is hurting our children," she said, urging the board to change the practice.

Casey McCarty of Prosperity, a 25-year member of the Prosperity Volunteer Fire Department, described repeated traffic accidents on Highway 76 near Mid Carolina Middle School and urged the board to change the entrance configuration. "Make that entrance to the old middle school ... No exit," he said, arguing limited sight lines have contributed to crashes and recommending converting an existing access to entrance-only and adjusting drop-off loops.

Board members listened but did not make immediate commitments on policy changes during public comment; they later discussed grading and retention policy updates during the policy segment of the agenda.