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PCSD board approves renewal for Felton Laboratory Charter School
Summary
The South Carolina Public Charter School District board voted Jan. 9 to renew Felton Laboratory Charter School’s charter after staff presented mixed academic results but steady financial trends and community support.
The South Carolina Public Charter School District board voted to renew Felton Laboratory Charter School’s charter on Jan. 9 after a staff recommendation and public testimony.
Kristen Farmer, the district’s chief of authorization and development, summarized a comprehensive renewal review noting that Felton serves 277 students and plans to grow enrollment to 352 by 2027. Farmer told trustees the school met certified staffing requirements for six years, showed a net increase in fund balance of about $75,000 as of Sept. 30, 2024, and had a cash increase of roughly $410,000 compared with the prior year. She also noted past audit findings in 2021, 2023 and 2024 but said none were repeat findings and that the 2024 audit was submitted on time.
Board members pressed school leaders on the decline in report-card ratings—elementary ratings dropped from “excellent” in 2023 to “unsatisfactory” in 2024—and asked whether enrollment shifts or other events explained the fall. Felton Director Dr. Jean Grama said the school faced teacher attrition and a 31% student attrition rate in recent years, and described seven steps the school has implemented including schoolwide intervention, professional learning communities for teachers, expanded use of the i-Ready personalized learning platform and targeted coaching.
Parent testimony supported renewal. “My name is Aretha Langston, and I am a proud parent of an eighth grader and a proud grandmother of a kindergarten here,” one parent said, citing close relationships with teachers and administrators.
Deborah Cooper Davis, identified as Felton’s board chair, urged trustees to approve the renewal to preserve the school’s more-than-100-year legacy on the South Carolina State University campus and to avoid disrupting students’ education.
After discussion closed, the board approved the staff recommendation by voice vote; those voting in favor were recorded as “aye” and no opposition was recorded.
The board packet indicates Felton will expand multilingual supports, transition to i-Ready assessments in 2025, and pursue goals through 2035 to boost math and reading proficiency, reduce faculty attrition and narrow subgroup performance gaps. The district and Felton leaders agreed to follow up with trustees on outstanding financial-detail questions that were deferred during the presentation.
The vote completes the board’s review and allows the school to continue operating under the district’s authorizing agreement. Next steps include continued oversight of Felton’s implementation of the academic improvements described by the school.
