Pursuant to S.C. Code of Laws § 59-1-425, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) annually, before July 1, must provide the South Carolina General Assembly with a detailed report of information from each district listing the number of (1) days missed and the reason, (2) days made up, and (3) days waived.

For questions or assistance, please contact C.R. Hall at chall@ed.sc.gov or 803-734-2439.

The Office of Assessment and Standards will offer a free in-person institute for immersion teachers and administrators. This hands-on institute will afford participants an opportunity to explore ways to support immersion learners in the mastery of content, as well as deepen their understanding of the South Carolina Standards for World Language Proficiency.

For more information, please contact Dr. Rocío Zalba, World Language Education
Associate via rzalba@ed.sc.gov.

In accordance with S.C. Code Ann. § 59-17-160, the South Carolina Department of Education and the South Carolina State Fire Marshal administered the review process of school districts’ fire and safety policies. Each policy was reviewed by independent subject matter experts who provided objective feedback and rated each policy as “Excellent,” “Satisfactory,” or “Unsatisfactory.”

If you have any questions regarding the enclosed documents, contact Kimberly Smith at kwsmith@ed.sc.gov or (803) 734-8113.

Each Regional Fiscal Agent will receive a Professional Learning allocation of $10,000 to be paid through District Revenue Code: 3597A.The funding is provided through the 2022–23 Annual Appropriations Act Professional Development line item and Proviso 1A.25. Payments will arrive within 30 days of processing.

If you have questions concerning your allocation, please contact Melanie Cooper in the Office of Finance at mcooper@ed.sc.gov, or 803-734-8145. If you have programmatic questions, please contact Josie Stratton in the Office of Standards and Learning at jstratton@ed.sc.gov, or 803-734-2782.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is pleased to share that 67 districts have now opted in to leverage our partnership with Ellevation Education. Secured by the SCDE in September 2022, Ellevation supports essential components of the Multilingual Learner Program (MLP) including a platform for required programmatic documentation (Ellevation Platform) and an instructional and professional learning component (Ellevation Strategies).

Please contact Susan Murphy, SMurphy@ed.sc.gov, for MLP Data Management System questions. For Ellevation specific setup and data integration questions, contact Heather Gomez at heather.lanham@ellevationeducation.com or Suzy Hall at suzyh@ellevationeducation.com.

In accordance with S.C. Code Ann. § 59-63-90, the South Carolina Department of Education is required to develop a notice to be sent by each local educational agency to all parents or legal guardians that notifies them of available services and rights pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and medical homebound regulations at the beginning of the school year.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) announces that the 2023–24 Request for Proposals for the Arts Curricular Innovation Grants (ACIG)—Equitable Arts Advancement Program grant is now available online. Approximately $350,000 in funding will be distributed on a competitive basis and the deadline to apply is June 30, 2023.

For more information about the ACIG programs, contact Roger Simpson at 803-734-0715, rsimpson@ed.sc.gov, or Monique Curry at 803-734-3461, lmcurry@ed.sc.gov.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) announces that the 2023–24 Request for
Proposals for the Arts Curricular Innovation Grants (ACIG)—Distinguished Arts Program
grant is now available online. Approximately $700,000 in funding will be distributed on a
competitive basis and the deadline to apply is June 30, 2023.

For more information about the ACIG programs,
contact Roger Simpson at 803-734-0715, rsimpson@ed.sc.gov, or L.Monique Curry at 803-734-
3461, lmcurry@ed.sc.gov.

The due date for all budget amendments is Friday, June 30, 2023, for grant awards ending June 30 and/or any expenditures that will be incurred on or before June 30, 2023. No amendments will be allowed for these funds from June 30, 2023, through August 15, 2023. Recipients are required to report deviations from budget and program plans and request prior approvals for budget and program plan revisions.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please email Sequoyah B. Williams at sburden@ed.sc.gov.

The Office of Personalized Learning has partnered with the University of South Carolina’s
CarolinaCrED to offer micro-credentials for SC educators. Sign up for an information session on
June 13, 2023 from 2:00pm-3:00pm. Teachers who are interested in micro-credentials can sign up independently, or districts and schools can send one representative to receive information.

Contact Sarah Gams,
ssgams@ed.sc.gov, or Sarah Bowie, smbowie@ed.sc.gov, with questions.

The 2022–23 Discipline, Truancy and Chronic Absenteeism data are now posted in the Accountability Data Transfer (ADT) System/Data Portal for review. It is critical that each district reviews, corrects, and
confirms the accuracy of the data by June 28, 2023, as these data will be used for state and federal
reporting.

If you have questions about the data upload, please contact PowerSchool at powerschool@ed.sc.gov or
803-734-0065.
If you have questions about data coding, please contact the Aveene Coleman at discipline@ed.sc.gov or
803-734-3057.

This memorandum is a follow up to the February 13, 2023 memorandum regarding Personal Finance one-half (0.5) unit Graduation Requirement. On May 9, 2023, upon the second reading, the State Board of Education approved the standards for the Personal Finance one-half (0.5) unit Graduation Requirement.

Please contact Dr. Quincie Moore, qmoore@ed.sc.gov, 803-734-1426, Dana Depew, ddepew@ed.sc.gov, 803-734-2828, or Dr. Eleanor Glover, eglover@ed.sc.gov, 803-734-3826, if you have questions regarding this information. For related teacher certification questions, contact Sherry Schneider, sschneider@ed.sc.gov, 803-896-0394.

The South Carolina Department of Education is pleased to recognize high school seniors who will be entering the military or attending a military service academy with a red, white, and blue honor cord to be worn during graduation ceremonies. Thank you for participating in this program to honor the commitment these students are making to serve our country.

Please contact Derek Phillips with any questions at dphillips@ed.sc.gov.

State standards provide the basis for decision-making and educational policy development as well as the foundation for the development of curricula at the local level. The primary goal of
standards is to articulate high expectations for teaching and learning for all students enrolled in the public schools of South Carolina.

If you have questions regarding this process, please contact Sandra Ammons in the Office of Assessment and Standards at sammons@ed.sc.gov.

The agency is pleased to announce the online assurance form for hiring retired educators for SY 2023-24 is now “live” to those superintendents and designees with assigned user roles. Districts will access the Retiree Assurance Form via the link in the Application Portal.

Email questions or concerns to retireewaiver@ed.sc.gov.