Beaufort County superintendent touts district gains, announces $14M federal grant to expand IB programming

Superintendent Dr. Frank Rodriguez and district staff presented the South Carolina report-card results for the 2023–24 school year and announced a major federal grant award during the Oct. 15 board meeting.

Dr. Stratos summarized the accountability report: Beaufort County School District recorded gains across several indicators, with 10 schools moving up one or two levels and, for the first time since 2018, no schools rated unsatisfactory. The district reported its highest graduation rate on state records at 88.6 and said English Language Arts performance rose to 55.6%.

Rodriguez and staff cautioned that math remains an area of concern and described steps the district is taking, including targeted monitoring at lower-performing schools and new leadership focused on mathematics improvement. Board members asked for further committee-level review and a deeper breakdown of which metrics drove particular school-level changes.

In related funding news, district staff announced the U.S. Department of Education awarded a five-year Magnet School Assistance Program (MSAP) grant totaling $14,000,996 to expand International Baccalaureate programming and related accelerated-course opportunities. The superintendent said the district has posted the director position to manage the project and will meet with principals to implement the grant.

Board members praised school- and principal-level work, called for academic-committee follow-up, and highlighted community partnerships and grant-funded extended-learning programs as critical components for sustaining gains.

Next steps: administration will present a deeper analysis to the academics committee and return with implementation plans for the MSAP award and program staffing.