High Scores, Facilities Evaluations Highlight School Dist. 2 News
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson School Dist. 2 is waiting on a final independent comprehensive audit of the costs associated with the future of the two middle schools in the district before a decision on the future of middle school in the district.
Both Belton Middle School and Honea Path Middle School are housed in aging buildings with outdated infrastructure and facilities and will require significant upgrades to meet the needs of students. The district will weigh the costs of upfitting the old buildings versus the costs of merging the schools in a new facility. The reports, due at the end of July, will be used by the district’s board of trustees to determine which direction might best suit the future needs of students. Either choice will require a referendum asking voters to approve a bond to fund the upgrades or construction of a new school.
It's all part of planning ahead for the district, which boasted good scores on all accountability metrics and assessments in the 2024-2025 school year, said Superintendent Jason Johns.
“We have seen gains across the board,” said Johns. “In all areas, our students are actually learning at a higher level than they were pre-COVID.”
Johns said the gains in math were particularly notable.
“Especially in our middle school level, we saw our students achieve at a higher level of math than they have since we've been keeping track,” said Johns. “So we are very pleased with the work those teachers and those students have done. And our teachers have gotten really, really good at buying into the professional learning communities. So, sharing those best practices, building those assessments together, building those unit plans. Together, talking about what worked with your student, and maybe I can borrow that strategy, that's also created a very positive work environment in general.”
The district, with 3,600 students, Johns said security upgrades over the summer should make schools even safer this year.
“We're in the process of having card key readers installed on all of our exterior doors,” said Johns. “These are individualized cards that all our employees will have, and it actually serves as their ID as well. And they'll be able to get into the buildings that way as opposed to having a master key. This will be an extra measure of safety, and then we're also getting door access sensors on all of our exterior doors that will alert the front office anytime a door is open and will actually alert our SROs and our administrators on their phone so that they can go close those exterior doors. So that'll be a new feature to keep our schools safe.”
Johns said the district will continue the free breakfast/lunch for all students in the year ahead.
“This will be the start of our third year of free lunch for all our students, regardless of qualifications, we provide breakfast and lunch for them,” said Johns. “This has been a huge benefit and very much appreciated by our community.”
He said it is a critical move to make sure students are ready for the classroom and have the energy to help them better focus in the classroom, and that the program leads to higher academic achievement.
Looking to the upcoming school year, which starts Aug. 5, the district is working on a five-year strategic plan, which will include a study of all facilities, and the implementation of artificial intelligence in the classroom setting.
Johns discussed the current and future of the district in this interview with the Anderson Observer.
