SC School Report Cards annually sends out report cards about schools and districts across the state. According to report cards’ website, they highlight academic achievement and provide background on academic growth, college and career readiness, graduation rates, student safety and more.

“Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), State Education Agencies are required to prepare and disseminate an annual state report and Local Education Agency (LEA) report card that meet the minimum requirements described in federal law,” the site explains. 

Over the past few weeks, the Chronicle has dug into the evaluations for the five school districts that touch Lexington County, concluding this week with Lexington-Richland School District 5 and Lexington County School District 4.

District 5

District 5 spans two counties and covers 13 elementary schools, three middle schools, four high schools, one center for advanced technical studies (high school level), one academy, one virtual school and one intermediate school in the vicinity of Irmo and Chapin. It serves more than 17,000 students.

Graduation Rate

For the 2022-23 school year, the district saw 89% of students graduate on time, compared to a statewide rate of 83.8%.

Since 2020, the district’s graduation rate has remained relatively steady, going from 90.7% in 2020 to 87.7% in 2021 to 89% in 2022.

The district's annual dropout rate decreased from 1.3% to .8%, while the dropout recovery rate increased to 8.3% from 5.6%.

College and Career Readiness

Students who were college- or career-ready made up 80.2% of the district’s graduation cohort (up from 79.9%), compared to a statewide rate of 64.7%.

Students who were college-and-career-ready made up 43.4% of the graduation cohort (down from 44.3%), compared to a statewide rate of 29.4%.

Students who were college-ready made up 46.5% of the graduation cohort (up from 45.2%), compared to a statewide rate of 32%.

Students who were career-ready made up 77.2% of the graduation cohort (down from 79%), compared to a statewide rate of 61.4%.

Academic Acheivement

English Language Arts  — 61.2% of the district met or exceeded English language arts expectations (up from 55%), compared to a statewide rate of 53.9%. 79.7% of the district scored a C or higher on the end-of-course assessment for English 2 (up from 71%), compared to a statewide rate of 64.4%.

Mathematics — 47% of the district met or exceeded mathematics expectations (up from 45.1%), compared to a statewide rate of 40.9%. 58.6% of the district scored a C or higher on the end-of-course assessment for Algebra 1 (down from 61.6%), compared to a statewide rate of 41.8%.

Preparing for Success

SCPASS Science — 53.2% of the district met or excteeded science expectations (up from 51.8%), compared to a statewide rate of 45.1%. 54.4% of the district scored a C or higher on the Biology end-of-course exam (down from 63.7%), compared to a statewide rate of 40.9%.

U.S. History and the Constitution — 54.3% of the district scored a C or higher on the U.S. History and the Constitution end-of-course exam (up from 49.7%), compared to a statewide rate of 42.1%.

Student Safety

The district had 122 incidents of physical attack without a weapon, two incidents of possession of a firearm or explosive, 1,601 students with in-school suspension, 1,577 students with out of school suspension, 21 students expelled, 254 school-related arrests and referrals to law enforcement, and 106 incidents of bullying and harassment.

Statewide, there were 139 incidents of sexual assault not rape, 135 incidents of possesion of a firearm or explosive, 101,407 students with in-school suspension, 95,982 students with out-of-school suspension, 1,422 students expelled, 3,413 school-related arrests and referrals to law enforcement, and 5,526 incidents of bullying and harassment.

Evaluations by parents

A total of 3476 responses were gathered from parents, with 91.6% agreeing/strongly agreeing that their child feels safe at school and 84.5% agreeing/strongly agreeing that their student’s teachers and staff prevent or stop bullying at school.

Evaluation by teachers

A total of 1293 responses were gathered from teachers, with 95.9% agreeing/strongly agreeing that they feel safe at school before and after operation hours and 72.9% saying they agree/strongly agree that there are rules for behavior enforced at their school.

District 4

District 4 covers one elementary school, one middle school, one high school, one primary school, an intermediate school and one freshman academy in the Swansea area. It serves about 3,500 students.

Graduation Rate

For the 2022-23 school year, the district saw 70.3% of students graduate on time, compared to a statewide rate of 83.8%.

Since 2020, the district's graduation rate has been trending down, going from 82.6% to 77.6% in 2021 to 79.7% in 2022.

The district's annual dropout rate decreased from 2% to 1.9%, while the dropout recovery rate decreased to 0% from 5.3%.

College and Career Readiness

Students who were college- or career-ready made up 57.6% of the district’s graduation cohort (up from 53.6%), compared to a statewide rate of 64.7%.

Students who were college-and-career-ready made up 16.5% of the graduation cohort (up from 15.8%), compared to a statewide rate of 29.4%.

Students who were college-ready made up 18.6% of the graduation cohort (up from 16.3%), compared to a statewide rate of 32%.

Students who were career-ready made up 55.5% of the graduation cohort (up from 52.5%), compatered to a statewide rate of 61.4%.

Overall Student Performance

English Language Arts — 32.8% of the district met or exceeded English language arts expectations (up from 24.6%), compared to a statewide rate of 53.9%. 47.5% of the district scored a C or higher on the end-of-course assessment in English 2 (up from 39.8%), compared to a statewide rate of 64.4%.

Mathematics — 20.5% of the district met or exceeded mathematics expectations (up from 19.1%), compared to a statewide rate of 40.9%. 24.3% of the district scored a C or higher on the end-of-course assessment in Algebra 1 (up from 12.7%), compared to a statewide rate of 41.8%.

Preparing for Success

SCPASS Science — 19.3% of the district met or exceeded science expectations (down from 23.3%), compared to a statewide rate of 45.1%. 11.6% of the district scored a C or higher on the Biology end-of-course exam (down from 35.9%), compared to a statewide rate of 40.9%.

U.S. History and the Constitution — 22.4% of the district scored a C or higher on the U.S. History and the Constitution end-of-course exam (down from 27%), compared to a statewide rate of 42.1%.

Student Safety

The district had two incidents of sexual assault (not rape), four incident of physical attack without a weapon, one incident of a possession of firearm or explosive, 568 students with in-school suspension, 418 students with out of school suspension, one students expelled, 28 school-related arrests and referrals to law enforcement, and 22 incidents of bullying and harassment.

Statewide, there were 139 incidents of sexual assault not rape, 135 incidents of possesion of a firearm or explosive, 101,407 students with in-school suspension, 95,982 students with out-of-school suspension, 1,422 students expelled, 3,413 school-related arrests and referrals to law enforcement, and 5,526 incidents of bullying and harassment.

Evaluations by parents

A total of 773 responses were gathered from parents, with 88.6% agreeing/strongly agreeing that their child feels safe at school and 78.5% agreeing/strongly agreeing that their student’s teachers and staff prevent or stop bullying at school.

Evaluation by teachers

According to the website a total of 194 responses were gathered from teachers, with 99.5% agreeing/strongly agreeing that they feel safe at school before and after operation hours and 80.2% agreeing/strongly agreeing that there are rules for behavior enforced at their school.