Richland 1 staff outline Act 114 retention rules, intervention tracking and summer-camp expansion

District staff told the Richland County School District 1 Committee on Instruction and Curriculum on Sept. 2 that South Carolina’s Read to Succeed law (Act 114) will require stricter documentation and mandatory third-grade retention beginning in the 2024–25 school year, with a set of limited "good-cause" exemptions and new district monitoring tools.

The presenter summarized the law’s requirements and the district’s plan, saying, "Beginning with the 2024–25 school year any student that is not reading on grade level must be retained," and outlined exemptions for students with limited English proficiency with fewer than two years of services, students with IEPs or 504 plans that contain reading goals for more than two years, and students who have already had two years of intervention and prior retention.

Why it matters: the state’s Read to Succeed goal is that at least 75% of students read at or above grade level by 2030. District staff reported recent gains but noted the system has more work to reach that benchmark; the presenter said district proficiency rose about 7.5 percentage points this year to roughly 51–52%.

Key implementation steps and supports District staff described a multi-step communications and documentation timeline required by the state and supplemented locally. The district will notify all third…