Public hearing for FY25 budget, 2025-26 academic calendar updatesCharleston residents can weigh in on possible $8K teacher raise, new student funding
Charleston residents will have a chance to provide input on the district’s fiscal year 2025 budget — which includes a proposed $8,000 raise for teachers — and the implementation of the weighted student funding model during the June 24 board meeting.
The raise would see Charleston provide the highest base salaries for teachers in South Carolina.
District officials have prioritized raising educators’ salaries as a teacher shortage crisis has plagued the country. Last year, they raised teacher pay by $5,000, also including a $5,000 bonus funded by federal pandemic relief funds.
Bill Briggman, CCSD’s chief human resource officer, said the district already has seen retention numbers improve, with vacancies at several schools in the single digits.
The public also will get a chance to offer input regarding the newly proposed weighted student funding model, which Superintendent Anita Huggins brought to board members in March.
The model would allocate more than $30 million in additional funds to schools based on student demographics, specifically focusing on pupils in poverty, multilingual learners and students with disabilities.
The meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m. in the board room at 75 Calhoun St., the district’s headquarters, and will be livestreamed via YouTube, on the district’s channel.
The district requested members of the public to submit their FY2025 budget questions in advance to [email protected].
2025-2026 academic calendar updates
Results of a district survey about possible academic calendar options showed the CCSD community preferred the choice less likely to result in potentially thousands of missing meals for students.
The results were presented at the June 10 board meeting.
The survey received over 6,000 responses, with the majority of them provided by parents and employees. The district used a rank choice system, where respondents ranked their calendar choices by preference.
The results revealed the majority of respondents preferred Calendar A, which schedules spring break April 6-10, 2026, and sets May 28, 2026 as the last day of school.
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All calendar options propose the first day as August 12, 2025, and winter break December 22, 2025 to January 5, 2026.
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District staff previously has stated that calendars B and C would cause students to miss out on approximately 147,000 provided lunches and 77,000 breakfasts because of the prolonged breaks in these two options. This topic was discussed when calendar options were first presented at a May 13 meeting, at which board members showed significant concern for the potential loss of breakfasts and lunches, since some families rely on school-provided meals to ensure their kids are fed at no cost.
Superintendent Anita Huggins said at the meeting the district would determine how to best support student and families in case board members decided to vote on a calendar that would reduce provided meals.
Board members will consider the three calendar options, and decide on one of them, at the June 24 board meeting.
The district has said the public survey is not intended to be a definitive vote on the calendar question, but its results will provide board members with information they can consider in making their final decision.
Charleston teacher honored by South Carolina Bar
Christopher Garner, a seventh-grade teacher at Buist Academy, was honored by the South Carolina Bar, which named him the 2024 Law Related Education Middle School Teacher of the Year.
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Garner was recognized for leading a Mock Trial team at the school. He has coached the team for 12 years, encouraging students to “think on their feet” and having high expectations for his pupils, according to a district statement.
A representative from the S.C. Bar presented Garner with $500 and a plaque during a ceremony at Buist on May 31.
This honor is given to teachers who have fostered public understanding of the values of the judicial system, stimulating a sense of individual responsibility and increasing communication among students, fellow teachers and those who work in the legal system.
