Written
by: Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
April 14, 2025
CHARLESTON, SC (PE)--A new incentive program to encourage and improve school
attendance launched earlier last month by Charleston County School District,South Carolina, pays families for a student’s perfect attendance.
“During COVID South Carolina experienced a significant percentage of students
chronically absent from its classrooms and from the engagement with teachers. Even
virtually nearly 25 percent of students specifically were chronically absent,” said
Anita Huggins, Superintendent of Schools, Charleston County School District. “This
is a national problem and we’re not immune to it here in South Carolina and
specifically here in Charleston.”
The nine-week pilot program allows Charleston County School District to pay students
in eligible grades and schools $25 dollars a week, per student to at least 1900
students and their families.
The program started March 10 and students from ten selected grades and ten
schools will be eligible to continuously participate as long as they maintain
perfect attendance every week through May 16.
Eligible schools in the program are Ellington Elementary, Midland Park Primary,
Lambs Elementary, Ladson Elementary, A.C. Corcoran Elementary, Goodwin
Elementary, Morningdale Middle, Simmons Pickney Middle, North Charleston High
and West Ashley High.
There are no limits to how many students in one household are eligible, and
students in a selected school are eligible regardless of prior history of
attendance. Those who are eligible for the program sign up through an app that
uses Bills.com to track where the money is spent. Payments are put on a debit
card for Parents or guardians or students 18 years or older. Cardholders are
limited to using the card to only necessities like gas, transportation,
utilities or food, and the early data shows the money is being used primarily
for rideshares like uber and lyft, public transportation, groceries and
utilities.
The incentive for the pilot program comes from the Weighted Student Funding Formula, which the district allocates the money from its
General Operating Fund, approved through 2026. That fund is supported by
taxpayers. Any money not used will be returned to the fund balance to be
reappropriated on June 30 and the cards will be closed.
Charleston County School District ChiefFinancial Officer Daniel Prentice estimated that if every affected student
achieves attendance within the selected nine weeks, the cost would be around
$400,000. The pilot allocated $30,800 in week one.
“In theory, if this works, and the data shows significant improvements over human capital investments, it would be a higher priority to provide these
rewards,” Prentice said.
The program has not gone without criticism from the public and parents that
argue students should be expected to show up for school without being paid.
Huggins says she understands and shares the same concerns and knows the program
is unusual, and after senior leaders came up with the program, they also scratched
their heads for a moment asking, “Do we really reward students for something we
expect them to already do?”
“We understand that this is a bit unconventional. We will do whatever it takes
to get kids in school,” she said. “The results are simply amazing. We are
tracking the data very carefully. If the results continue to trend the
investment per student will be approximately $225, significantly lower than the
nearly $600 per pupil cost associated with our current interventions in regard
to attendance and absenteeism.”
The results have been promising with the district reporting significant increases
in all 10 schools. All schools, except one, are seeing anywhere from 20 to 30
percent increase in attendance with some grades reaching 100 percent in perfect
attendance.
Henry Darby, Principal, North Charleston High School, had his reservations
about the program at first, but since seeing it in action for himself says it’s
an “idea whose time has come.”
“The school kids love it,” said Darby. “Students are now coming to school.”
The North Charleston High School principal says he deals with teenagers that
have a lot more going on in their life than just school like jobs, childcare
and transportation. Darby says many of those students who were absent weren’t
absent just to be absent.
“Those students who were absent weren’t absent to just be absent,” he said. “A
number of these kids have jobs. When you have a student who works at Dunkin and
close it at 11 at closing time for a 16-year-old child, that says something.”
James Dallas, Principle, E.B. Ellington Elementary School, has also acknowledged
the success of the program and addressed the criticism of rewarding attendance by
saying we’ve always rewarded perfect attendance, just not monetarily, that’s
what is different.
“I know this is unconventional. It’s something that people are not accustomed to,
but it is working in our building. Our kindergarten, fifth grade numbers are
really off the charts. We’ve seen significant growth in the number of students
who are coming to school every day,” said Dallas. “Since I’ve been doing this
for 37 years, we’ve always incentivized students for perfect attendance this is
just a different, a new and unique way of doing that and we’re seeing success.”
Still critics remain skeptical about the program. A parent, who requested
anonymity, praised the improved, but is more concerned about the academic
performance.
“I’d rather they give incentives for good grades than attendance,” she said.
But educators say they can’t teach those who aren’t there, and the attendance
issue is the start of the academic process.
“We’re thrilled with what we’re seeing. That seat time is so critical,” said Kayela Clark, Principal, Lambs Creek Elementary School. “One of our teachers when I
was talking to them about it said you know we’re not magicians. We can’t teach
them if they’re not here and so getting our kids in school getting them happy
to be there showing up every day is a big game changer for us.”
Huggins is asking the public to keep an open mind to the unusual program as
they try to get the best outcome for students' futures any way they can.
“We’re really thinking outside the box about how to get our children in school
and keep our children in school, and make sure that all children leave this
system college, career, military ready which is what all kids deserve,” Huggins
said. “We beg the public’s patience with us. We again know this is
unconventional thinking outside the box thinking some might even call it
strange and thwarted thinking, but we plan on being very transparent with the
data.
The district plans to analyze the results of the program after May 16. The
focus will be on improved attendance rates and the performance of students in
academics at the end-of-course exams.
“After a nine-week pilot, whatever the results are we see here. We can apply to
whatever we do in the future, whether that be to continue this work or to say
listen that doesn’t work either. Let’s find something else,” Huggins said.
Tony Spain is a former candidate for Richland County Council
2020 and an award winning former military photographer and journalist while in
the Public Affairs Office for the U.S. Army. His photos and writing have been
published in numerous publications such as The Commercial News, Danville, Ill.;
The Paraglide, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Soldier of Fortune Magazine; The State
Newspaper, Columbia, S.C., and more.
He lives in Columbia, S.C.
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