State representative accuses Rock Hill board of systemic harm to Black students and communities

Representative Dahlke, the state representative whose district includes parts of York County, delivered a lengthy and pointed public statement to the Rock Hill School District board, accusing trustees of governance decisions that she said have disproportionately hurt Black families and students.

"The decisions made here has consistently failed our black families and our black children," Dahlke said, listing what she described as a pattern: closure of three elementary schools that she said disproportionately affected Black neighborhoods, demotions of Black principals without sufficient transparency, exclusion of Black contractors from work on historically Black campuses, and resistance to single‑member districts she said would improve representation.

Dahlke told trustees she was bringing constituent complaints to the board and said: "These are not statistics. These are real families, real children dealing with real instability." She urged the board to change course and work with the community to address what she described as systemic inequities.

Board members responded with offers to meet, and several said they wanted to work with the representative. The transcript records applause and verbal support from some audience members during portions of the remarks. Trustees did not announce a formal policy action in response at that meeting; several members said they would pursue conversations and follow up in future meetings and workshops.

Representative Dahlke’s remarks were the most directly critical public statement at the meeting and framed equity, school closures and contractor selection as central concerns ahead of the start of the new school year.