Fort Mill board hears first reading of strategic plan; officials cite gains in ELA and falling turnover

At the board's staff‑report portion, Dr. Waikness presented the first reading of the Fort Mill School District's five‑year strategic plan update (year three of the plan developed in 2021 and approved in 2022). Matt and Renee, on the administration team, described the needs assessment and stakeholder input used to set performance goals across four goal areas: leadership capacity, learning capacity, resource capacity and personalized learning.

Presenters cited data highlights: Schoolzilla usage rose from 39% in 2022 to 53.8% in 2023; teacher turnover declined from 16.4% to 11.5%; and sixth‑through‑eighth‑grade ELA SC Ready scores increased from 70.6% to 77.9%. The administration described the plan as a roadmap for continuous improvement and said the district will submit the annual update to the state by April 30.

Trustees asked several follow‑up questions. One board member pressed on math achievement and whether declines (noted in Algebra I and biology EOCs) are lingering effects of the pandemic or related to new standards; administrators said math recovery remains a focus and attributed some variation to smaller cohort sizes on end‑of‑course tests. Trustees also asked for clarification about PLCs (professional learning communities) and CI3T (the district’s MTSS framework). Dr. Waikness described PLCs as team‑based instructional planning and CI3T as a district‑wide multi‑tiered system of academic, behavioral and character supports.

Administration said the annual update is part of a continuous five‑year cycle and that school improvement committees, principals and teachers took part in the process. Trustees indicated they expect a second reading and a vote on the plan at a future meeting, and asked administration to provide additional detail where requested (for example, parent communication action steps and whether high school teacher representatives participate in graduation‑rate target setting).