The Lexington County School District 1 Board of Trustees held a regular meeting Oct. 18, where they were updated on student performance.

The school board, along with Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait, were presented with the annual performance data summary for the 2021-2022 school year by Shane Philips, assessment and accountability director for the district. The presentation included test scores from a variety of years, with the exception of the 2019-2020, when testing only happened in the fall.

The presentation compared Lexington 1’s recent performance to the state, to the nation and to previous years. Based on the data, COVID-19 drops in student performance are beginning to incline, matching patterns throughout the state.

During citizen participation, Dana Homesley, a candidate running for the school board Nov. 8, spoke during the meeting regarding transparency, communication and responsibility within the district. 

Homesley said it had been 55 days since the board had provided the opportunity for citizens to participate in a meeting. Since the Sept. 27 meeting, Homesley said she has been reaching out to board members to gain access to the public feedback packet regarding the superintendent search that was promised to be disclosed, only hearing back from one board member.

“As a reminder information provided to the board at public meetings is, by state law, a public record as soon as it is presented to the board and the law allows the public to copy and inspect this record during normal business hours without paying a fee or filing a formal records request,” Homesley said.

At the start of the meeting, Pelion High School student Anabelle Creech was given a certificate by Superintendent Postlewait for winning first place at the state FFA Convention in the Greenhand Creed speaking contest. Creech will now compete at the national FFA Convention.