Hair Salon near North Charleston, SC

A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would remove North Charleston from the Charleston County School District and create a new district.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would remove North Charleston from the Charleston County School District and create a new district.

District 113 Rep. Marvin Pendarvis filed the bill Wednesday afternoon, saying that needs are not being met in the city of North Charleston.

“We’re here because we care about the quality of education in our schools,” Pendarvis said. “We’re here because the city of North Charleston, there’s a number of underperforming schools that lie within the City of North Charleston. We’re here for good reason, and I hope through collaboration and continuing the conversation we’ll be able to get something done.”

State law lays out how school districts can be formed and broken up.

According to 59-17-20, only an act from the state legislature or by authorization of the county boards of education can break up a district. Even then, the boards of education still need to meet certain conditions.

In a statement from the office of Attorney General Alan Wilson those conditions are as follows:

In (b), both districts involved would have to have a petition signed by at least four-fifths of the registered voters in the district. In (c), the districts would need only one-third of the voters to sign a petition but would then also have to have a vote on it called by the county board of education.

Earlier in the day, North Charleston’s mayor confirmed the city is exploring what would be required to withdraw schools in the city from the Charleston County School District.

Mayor Keith Summey said on Wednesday morning North Charleston City Council will explore breaking away from the school district to create their own.

“I think council is concerned about the number of failing schools that we have and what we can do generate more opportunity for the kids coming up in North Charleston,” he said. “It’s not anything that’s in concrete. It’s something that we’re looking at the possibility of.”

The effort, he says, is in a research phase to determine if the idea of pulling schools from the Charleston County School District is feasible, adding it would not be a “fast-paced” project.

Summey said he believes the city contributes more than what they are getting from the school district. He said the majority of failing schools in the district are in North Charleston.

“A community, at the end of the day, is only as strong as the education we can provide for our children, and we just want to make sure that our kids are getting the top chance that they can to get that education,” he said.

Summey said his vision would be for the schools to become a department within the city. He says he believes it would ultimately take a voter referendum, likely in 2024, for the change to happen.

North Charleston Mayor Pro Tem Jerome Heyward said he does not see one member on council not standing behind mayor in support of this.

“The city of North Charleston has been left out of the equation,” Heyward said. “Academic wise, we suffered over here because 30 of our schools are failing. It’s time for us to fix our schools.”

Summey said he has not yet heard from the school district, adding he would like to sit down with them.

“We’re just interested in making sure that children in North Charleston have the same opportunities as children in the entire county to get the best possible education that they can, and that’s not to say that the school district is not making effort,” Summey said. “It’s saying we don’t believe that effort to date has been successful.”

Charleston County School Board Chair Pam McKinney says she has not heard a single word from Summey or the city since she took office. She claims she learned of the mayor’s plan from news coverage.

“CCSD is proud to serve students from every corner of Charleston County,” McKinney said. “It is a priority for the board to ensure every child has access to a high-quality education. North Charleston students deserve a great education and that is exactly what we are working to deliver.”

The Charleston County School District provided a response to the city’s plans, saying the proposal to withdraw would duplicate administrative costs and result in less funding per pupil.

Mayor Keith Summey’s proposal to withdraw North Charleston schools from the Charleston County School District (CCSD) and instead house them in a department within the City of North Charleston would fail students. Such would duplicate administrative costs and result in less funding per pupil for both academic support and capital improvement.

Mayor Summey’s assertion that the City contributes more than what it receives from CCSD is untrue. In fact, North Charleston has historically received well above the CCSD average funding for construction and facilities maintenance.

North Charleston’s schools currently account for 30.32% of the District’s total student population yet receive approximately 35.6% of funds allocated for schools. In addition, the average budgeted per-pupil allocation in FY2023 for North Charleston schools was $16,645.18 compared to that for all other CCSD schools at $14,171.06; isolating North Charleston’s schools served through Acceleration Schools boasts a $19,532.61 per pupil allocation.

Claims that academic efforts in North Charleston schools have not been successful are also misleading. Most recently, for example, three North Charleston schools were removed from the state improvement designation list while others made significant gains.

Rather than benefiting students, withdrawing schools from CCSD would exacerbate educational disparities between geographic areas that CCSD has worked to address. Likewise, the assertion that creating a smaller district would ensure children in North Charleston have greater opportunities is simply misguided. Smaller schools and smaller districts have historically been less-able to offer such access and opportunity.

The District calls on Mayor Summey to address his concerns directly with CCSD leadership so that adults can avoid negative outcomes for students, parents, and educators. The Mayor has not reached out to the District directly since February 2022, after which he and Superintendent Kennedy met with other District and City officials.

The city refutes this, claiming the mayor reached out in May 2022 about an educational program.

Summey reaffirmed Wednesday morning he has not yet decided if he will seek re-election but expects to do so within the next 30 days.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A local organization hosted an event Saturday for community members to get together and discuss common problems in the area and find solutions as a group.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A local organization hosted an event Saturday for community members to get together and discuss common problems in the area and find solutions as a group.

Men and Women Empowerment Conference, hosted by Positive Vibes Ronjanae Smith, brought dozens of North Charleston residents together to talk about issues they have with the school district, gun safety, keeping children safe and violence in the community.

“One of the issues that we faced in our community is community apathy,” Community advocate Pastor Thomas Dixon says. “That our community does not get up and get involved in the issues that really affect them every day.”

A panel of community leaders helped facilitate the discussion with one member representing gun violence prevention, an education advocate, community leader and political advocate.

Not just discussing problems, but more importantly solutions were at the top of their list. Ronald Smith, Positive Vibes Ronjanae Smith Founder, tried to focus on specific actions they can take.

“They [the community] want to know solutions. ‘What can we change? What can we make happen?’” Smith says. “The biggest solution that we came up with today was for people to keep their new car doors locked was number one, more of us going into the schools was number two and talking to the kids that need our help.”

The conference was the first of its kind and the group plans to host another in the fall.

“Whatever programs is necessary that our community is doing everything that it can in order to ensure that our communities are safe, that our communities thrive and that our communities are being taken care of by those who have been elected to govern us,” Dixon says. “So in every aspect, we’re calling on the community now to get up and get involved so that we can actually be that beloved community.”

They hope they can come together as a village to address the issues in their community and use solutions that actually work.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The Emergency Response Team at R.B. Stall High School in North Charleston simulated what they would do if someone went into cardiac arrest on Friday afternoon.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Ever since Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest last month, there has been a renewed focus to educate people on how to respond to a similar event. Some Lowcountry schools are making sure they are ready if the scary moment ever comes.

The Emergency Response Team at R.B. Stall High School in North Charleston simulated what they would do if someone went into cardiac arrest on Friday afternoon. Faculty and staff simulated calling 911, administering CPR and using the school’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Friday’s drill was a partnership between the Charleston County School District and the Project Adam team at MUSC.

“It can be anybody, anywhere. It can be children; and so we need to have that plan in place,” Nurse Tara Lawson, project ADAM program coordinator at MUSC Children’s Hospital, said.

South Carolina is one of 15 states that require an AED in every school. But medical professionals say it is not enough to just have one on the wall.

“You don’t want to be scrambling when an incident happens,” Lawson said.

The goal is for every school in Charleston County to run a drill like this. The district said they will start with high schools and then move to middle and elementary schools.

“The faster that you can have CPR and an AED [in] place, the better the outcomes are,” Dr. Nicole Cain, MUSC director of pediatric electrophysiology, said. “Every second counts. We say time is muscle.”

R.B. Stall High School Nurse Kat Bouziane said the school has been forward-thinking in their emergency preparedness, but partnering with MUSC and Project Adam brings extra planning:

“It demonstrates to our community, the motivation, our sense of responsibility and commitment to providing a safe schoolhouse for our students, families and staff,” Bouziane said.

MUSC’s work with Project Adam began three years ago, and interest has increased in the last few weeks.

The goal is to certify every school in the state.

“I personally have a kindergartener in school,” Lawson said. “So I want him to be in the best place possible if he’s not with me. That people are going to know how to respond in case of an emergency.”

A life-saving drill, winning hearts and minds.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

As North Charleston continues to grow and become more dense, it will be increasingly important for the city to create desirable public oases and amenities that offer more space to play, relax and just get away from it all. That’s why we’re encouraged by the city’s decision to create what is expected to be its largest passive park.

Last month, City Council approved moving forward with purchasing 440 largely undeveloped acres, pulling together eight adjoining parcels roughly bounded by U.S. Highway 78, Interstate 26, Ingleside Plantation Road and Ingleside Boulevard on the city’s northern end. Also known as Blue House Plantation, the property has about 200 acres of highlands and 240 acres of wetlands. The city has received $1 million from the S.C. Conservation Bank and a $1 million U.S. Fish & Wildlife grant toward buying the site, and the Charleston County Greenbelt Program has contributed about $4 million, with the property owners, two LLCs, discounted the sale price of the land by several million dollars.

We urge the city to close on the property as soon as possible — its goal is to do so by June 1 — and begin seeking public input on what this park, tentatively known as the Ingleside Weber Park System, should look like. The possibilities are huge: The combined acreage is about seven times as large as Charleston’s Hampton Park, and the chairman of the S.C. Conservation Bank has said the park has the promise of becoming North Charleston’s version of Central Park.

The potential is indeed significant, but buying the property is just the start. The city will have to create a beautiful, functional network of trails, greenways, picnic areas and interpretive areas, particularly around any visible historical remnants, plus walking and biking connections to nearby developments and also across I-26 to Charleston Southern University’s campus and on to the county-run Wannamaker Park.

Fortunately, the seller already has trail easements on commercial, industrial and residential parcels that were previously sold off from the larger tract with the intent of creating a planned trail system and park.

The city’s move is smart in part because much of this acreage is low-lying and because the size of the undeveloped property should provide meaningful wildlife habitat in a bustling part of the metro area that’s under increasing pressure from development. It’s currently home to deer, wild boar and an active woodstork rookery.

North Charleston has created some first-rate public recreation sites, such as its new aquatics and athletics centers, but the city has been less proactive about creating new parks, particularly of any significant size. This is partly due to the city’s relatively young age and its traditional focus on development and expansion. But as we’ve noted, the city also has been turning inward toward quality-of-life issues, and more changes are ahead in part due to a planned bus rapid transit line to be built through the spine of the city, linking its northern end with downtown Charleston.

That line is expected to make property along University Boulevard and Rivers Avenue more appealing for new dense development, which will enable more residents to get to the region’s major employment centers and shopping hubs. That also will help meet the needs of a growing regional population while easing pressure to develop land at our rural edges.

As the population and density of a city increase, its residents rightly expect more and better green space set aside for their recreation and enjoyment, which is often beyond what the free market creates on its own.

With North Charleston at an important point in its evolution as a city, the Ingleside Weber Park System project represents a rare opportunity to establish such a place that will enhance the quality of life for residents. That is encouraging progress.

Airbus’ smallest and newest aircraft, the Airbus A220, is no exception when it comes to production delays due to supply chain issues. Airbus and Boeing have long been in the news for their narrowbody aircraft production delays. While the two popular types (Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX) receive the most attention, the Airbus A220 also faces similar supplier issues.

At the beginning of 2022, Airbus showed their 2021 deliveries as the highest ever. According to Airbus,

The A220 production rate for 2021 was nearly 4.2 aircraft a month. Airbus aimed to work closely with its suppliers to improve supply chain issues. Moreover, improved production processes at Mirabel, Quebec, and Mobile, AL factories were expected to increase the production rate significantly.

The 2022 delivery numbers were marginally better than the previous one, with 53 A220 aircraft delivered. This results in just over 4.4 aircraft a month. Airbus faces supply chain issues still related to COVID-19. Moreover, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has further raised supplier challenges affecting multiple production programs at Airbus.

Planning and scheduling adjustments

Airbus is implementing ad hoc short-term planning adjustments to align the production schedules with their supply chain. This is implemented to align the flow rate on the assembly line with the supply chain. Re-sequencing of aircraft entering the final assembly line enables Airbus to adjust to the supply chain deficiencies.

Moreover, delivery schedules are created when the pre-assembly requirements are fulfilled. This ensures greater delivery time certainties for customers. It is common for some parts of aircraft to arrive late from suppliers. This causes some aircraft to wait for completion and others to jump the sequence.

Airbus shows that part shortage is throughout their supply chain, affecting most of their narrowbody and widebody programs. There have been many instances when Airbus had to tank parts off some aircraft on the line to enable the delivery of other aircraft.

There is also the engine supply chain issue from Pratt & Whitney. Workers are sometimes forced to install weights instead of engines to keep the aircraft moving on the engine line. Regarding engine supply issues, Boeing has similar practices (of installing weights) in Everett, WA, and North Charleston, SC. In such cases, aircraft are parked away from the moving production line awaiting the engines.

Delivery protection

While these measures may temporarily reduce the production rate, Airbus aims to protect customer deliveries. According to Airbus,

The current A220 production rate at the Airbus Mirabel facility is five aircraft a month. Moreover, Airbus Canada produces one aircraft a month at the Mobile facility. With the supply chain issues sorted out, Airbus targets a 2025 production rate of 14 aircraft a month. To achieve that, both facilities must produce to their capacities of ten a month at Mirabel and four a month at Mobile.

With all-hands-on-deck to push the delivery targets, Airbus is determined to achieve the 14-a-month production rate by 2025.

What are your thoughts on the supply chain issues and management of the Airbus A220 program? Tell us in the comments section.