Riverview Charter School says school board racial numbers are wrong, goes forward with lottery plans
Riverview: School board racial numbers wrong, onward with lottery
Riverview Charter School’s board of directors announced late Tuesday afternoon it has obtained SC Board of Education statistics on the racial makeup of students in Beaufort County public schools refuting claims by our local school board of a high African-American percentage. “The average white population in grades K – 6 in Beaufort County is at least 4 percentage points higher than what was originally provided to Riverview by the Beaufort County School District”, the announcement stated. “We look forward to holding our enrollment lottery as soon as possible.”
The racial percentage is at the heart of a heated dispute between Riverview and the Beaufort County School Board over compliance with a directive from the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR), embodied in an agreement with the board last summer, that mandates a strict racial quota of African-Americans at Riverview based on the county-wide racial makeup.
The board recently laid down the gauntlet to Riverview, asserting that Riverview could not hold its planned lottery to increase enrollment. The board said Riverview must close at the end of the school year if it did not cancel a planned sixth grade and enroll mostly black students in the upcoming kindergarten class to comply with the board’s asserted county-wide racial figures that, it now appears, are wrong.
The school board’s asserted misstatement of the racial makeup in our public schools is consistent with persistent misstatements by school board member Jim Bequette about the cost of educating students in our schools. Bequette’s claims of a low cost are refuted by SC Board of Education figures, which show that the Beaufort County School District spends education money per student at the highest rate in the state for some of the lowest results.
Here is the entire announcement from Riverview’s board of directors late Tuesday afternoon:
Related posts:
- Breaking news: Beaufort County Board of Education imposes racial quota on Riverview Charter School
- Riverview Charter School organizers say school board will approve today
- Riverview Charter School adjusts to racial quota requirements
- School board delays decision on Riverview Charter School again
- Riverview Charter School leaders, families and supporters celebrate approval
