After delays, South Carolina’s school report cards released

PREVIOUS STORY: Lawmakers, educators frustrated over SC school report card delay

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – After several weeks of delays, South Carolina’s annual school report cards have been released. Though there are signs of statewide progress, the report cards also point to areas in need of improvement.

The South Carolina Department of Education and the Education Oversight Committee released the new data Thursday, evaluating how well schools are preparing students for life after K–12 education.

State leaders said they’re encouraged by the results.

“At the end of the day, we want our students, when they leave a South Carolina school to know that that diploma they carry is a diploma of value,” said Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver (R – South Carolina).

The report cards analyzed several key areas, including academic achievement, college readiness and graduation rates. Each school receives both a numerical score and an overall rating ranging from “Excellent” to “Unsatisfactory.”

The results indicate that more South Carolina schools earned the top rating of “Excellent” than last year, and fewer schools were deemed “Unsatisfactory.”

Nearly half of the state’s elementary schools received a rating of “Good” or “Better,” while one in three middle schools improved their overall scores from 2024.

Weaver said the state has made steady gains by aligning resources to support classroom instruction but acknowledged there’s more work ahead.

“We have to align resources to support that work in the classroom,” she said.

Still, one concerning trend stood out: chronic absenteeism. According to the data, one in five students were chronically absent during the 2023–24 school year, a figure based on the most recent complete data set.

April Allen, the chair of the Education Oversight Committee, said addressing absenteeism requires effort among schools, families and communities.

“It is our hope that we will encourage students to prioritize attendance,” Allen added. “It is not the same if you’re not present, and we cannot learn if we don’t have any information.”

As lawmakers prepare for the next budget cycle, Weaver said funding decisions will be key to sustaining progress. She has called for an across-the-board teacher pay increase, with a goal of raising the minimum starting salary to $50,000 by the start of the 2026-2027 school year.

Full 2024 school report cards, including district-by-district results, are available online.