Detour from reality: Beaufort County public school’s sign of the times
Detour from reality: Beaufort County public school’s sign of the times
The new $35 million Whale Branch high school is slated to open its doors to students for the first time in just a few weeks. This entrance sign suggests it’s going to be a detour to a fast route to college. But is it actually an exercise in doublethink?
Stay tuned for our second article in this series, an interview with outgoing school board member Joan Deery.
Photo by Jack Howison.
Related posts:
- Get accurate student uniform chart here for Beaufort County’s public schools
- Ethnic composition of Beaufort County public schools released
- Violence is everyday occurrence in Beaufort County public schools
- Focus on Beaufort County’s public schools: Riverview Charter School
- Political sign violations keep county officers busy
Comments
14 Responses to “Detour from reality: Beaufort County public school’s sign of the times”
Just got back after a great time in the Middle East.
My kids complain of all the testing and teachers complain there is no time to teach
What are we doing in this county? Are we testing the kids and not teaching them reading, writing and computation skills? My son quotes test strategies but he does not have the information. Sorry state of affairs. I am looking forward to being transferred so my kids will get a better education. I saw the boad meeting and wanted to scream that the koolaid passed out by the superintendent should not be consumed by board members.
Hello, I am a student at WBECHS and I would just like to tell you all that constantly make negative comments regarding my school have already been proven wrong. First of all, many who say this school was a waste of money do not even understand what building this school has done for this community. It has inspired children to actually continue to attend school, Many children probably did not want to attend school because of having to wake up ridiculously early. Now they do not have to because they’re school is in a close distance from their homes. Also, I am an honors student, and I do think what we honor students need is a challenge, and here at WBH we face one everyday. Not only with our school work, but with the issues we face everyday from those like you who never have anything good to say about the children in this community. Personally, I believe this is an issue of race. You all are taking all the positive things, these children are saying and twisting them into nonsense. Are test scores in the beginning of the year beat the average of many other test scores. 98% of the students who passed the Compass/ ASSET tests or had the appropriate SAT scores to be excepted into college courses are african-americans. Proved you guys wrong right. You thought tax dollars were wasted. NOPE, not at all. P.S. im sure if the scenario was flipped and the school was for your neighborhood, or the REAL Center was built at your childs school and several ignorant citizens made comments “just because” you would be a little upset as well ! thank you and have a blessed day =)
Future doctor, keep working hard. I am glad that you are proud of your school and that it is reaping a positive benefit for you and your community. You and all of your peers make the skeptics wrong, keep the chip on your shoulder as long as it moves you forward positively.
Honors student, huh? I’d accept that, except for this.
School board members are not watching this superintendent very carefully. The district has lots of initiatives starting up .
That means money and staffing. Are we not in a hole financially? Or was the superintendent crying wolf?
I heard that Rosswurm and Truesdale have offered “new positions” to district officers, strong armed then into signing resignations, then pulled the rug from under them.
Hey, is this legal? fair? ethical? Seems like both women are vying for a lawsuit against them!
How can you make someone resign if they have been doing a fabulous job? The best they can do given the lack of genuine-ness and competence given te superintendent and human resource woman’s evil purposes.
Truesdale is destroying leadership, tearing up teams, discouraging questions and challenges by taking autonomy and power away, and setting a climate of distrust, fear, revenge and retribution to the point where morale in this district is what many will deem as an all time low.
ALL the kudos that come to this district are victories for the teachers and students, not the central office. This district survives because the teachers work hard and care. Truesdale just claims the accolades.
BUT GET THIS.board members, ask about – you know! Morale is low low low and people are unhappy. Money has been wasted, some buildings are empty,and some buildings are loose screws.You will leave a legacy of shame if you don’t start asking questions and saying NO!
Didn’t any of the local bureaucrats attempt to get the appropriate authorities to change the name of the road on which the new school is located? What school wants to show itself as being a detour? While Unoccupied Lane or Wasted Way might be more accurate let’s try to be positive and use something like Opportunity Road or Success Avenue?Choices such as these would clearly send a better message.Earl Campbell let’s get on this.
Unfortunately signage and letterhead expenditures have already been made.
Such ineptitude in not pursuing a name change is but another manifestation of the “ready,fire aim” mentality among the local educrats.
There will be empty classrooms at Bluffton El, and that new school in Pritchardville too. Alot of those kids going to that new school are riding the bus.That is the only way they can get some students out there.
It is time for us to realize that we have a bully in Beaufort County. It is your School Superintendent, Valerie Truesdale.
In the last two years, given her actions and decisions as well as non-decisions, she has earned a reputation now as a bully, a CEO who picks on and harasses those beneath her so she can exercise her power and instill fear in others.
Others throughout the county are also beginning to realize that she is NOT an effective and competent leader. People are worried about how much progress this district can expect given recent events.
Our school superintendent is NOT practicing effective leadership skills in the Beaufort County Schools. Just the opposite, Truesdale is destroying leadership, tearing up teams, discouraging questions and challenges by taking autonomy and power away,
and setting a climate of distrust, fear, revenge and retribution to the point where morale in this district is what many will deem as an all time low.
Her style is to lead by fear and confusion.
Wake up people! Wake up board members! Time for her to go!
Mary Fran I agree with your statements and something has to be done. Truesdale is a bully who makes too much money and leads by fear. Teachers are scared and not only feel bullied by the district but also by some of the people she is hiring to move her agenda. I don’t know if the public is aware of this, but if teachers obtain legal advice due to harassment, the taxpayers have to pay for the legal defense of the school district. I believe a firm in Columbia represents the school district. This is another way Truesdale and her cronies could waste taxpayer dollars.
Leave the teachers alone! If they are not doing their jobs that is one thing but if they are being bullied and harassed that is another issue altogether.
If you think Whale Branch High School is a waste, think again. The military is talking of expansion at MCAS Beaufort. Without another high school, they may expand elsewhere or even shut down MCAS Beaufort.
Whale Branch we were told was built for 750 kids there are only 400 going there.
Battery Creek can hold 1600 but they have 800 if that this year.
Together that means over 1100 empty seats right now. Will the military move that many in I sincerely doubt it.
What is this school board thinking? And why do we have a superintendent paid over $200000? Can we not spend that money more effectively in our classrooms?
Has this teacher Mike Sanz struck on the real issue of poor leadership in central office and the board of education?
The local news has been abuzz for the past several months with reports of problems in the Treasurer’s Office. While these problems should not be minimized, the attention paid to this one incident overlooks even greater abuse of taxpayer trust, namely expenditures on projects that do little to enhance the welfare of county citizens. I will cite three examples that I consider to be wasteful.
First, the construction of a parallel bridge for the McTeer Bridge and widening of SC802 between the bridge and the intersection with Bus21. The benefits of the project, such as they are, derive from the increased flow of traffic through the intersections now controlled by traffic lights. This is achieved through widening the intersections and changing the logic of the lights. The expense of the bridge is almost entirely a waste of our money.
The second example is the opening of Whale Branch High School with its enrollment of fewer than 500 students. It seems to be a political payoff to a certain constituency of the county even if the underlying facts are that the school itself presents a danger of re-introducing segregation to the public education system.
The third example is the installation of monitoring cameras on the McTeer Bridge. Traffic was halted for two hours to install a column holding the camera. Unfortunately, the camera is on the inside of the curve of the road and cannot see accidents at the dangerous intersections of Meridian Road, Islands Causeway, and SC802. There are several taller poles on the outside of the curve affording better visibility that could have been used for this purpose that would not have required closure of the bridge and would not have called for another pole. Perhaps if the county manager were more concerned with managing our assets and less concerned with political intrigue, he would have seen these opportunities to save money and provide better service.