G. Robbie Binnicker Conference Center
During their meeting Tuesday, the Anderson School District One Board honored former Superintendent Robbie Binnicker with a special presentation and approved a number of policy changes including a new cell phone policy.
Binnicker was presented a plaque recognizing that the conference room of the new Oak Hill Elementary school being constructed in Powdersville will be named the “G. Robbie Binnicker Conference Center” in his honor.
Former Superintendent honored
Former Anderson School District 1 Superintendent Robbie Binnicker was honored with a special presentation Tuesday by the AD1 School Board. Binnicker was given a plaque recognizing that the conference center room of the new Oak Hill Elementary school being constructed in Powdersville will be named the “G. Robbie Binnicker Conference Center” in his honor. Pictured (l-r) are Board Chair Nancy Upton, Binnicker, Superintendent Dr. Seth Young.
Binnicker was also presented the State’s highest civilian honor, the “Order of the Palmetto” during the meeting. State House Representative Anne Thayer and Senator Mike Gambrell were joined by SC State Board of Education representative Sallie Lee for the presentation.
District One Finance Director Travis Thomas reported that the 2022 Building Fund of $27 million has expenses of $13.3 million and a remaining balance of $13.9 million.
Current building projects include construction of the new Oak Hill Elementary School in Powdersville, work at Concrete Primary, the Powdersville Middle addition and Powdersville High stadium expansion.
Thomas said the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) brought in $3.2 million in receipts to Anderson County for the month of June. School District One received $1.1 million. Of that, $219,000 will go to property tax relief and $877,000 to capital projects. The ending fund balance is $21,049,000.
Chief Academic Officer Brad Moore updated the Board on professional development for teachers. Moore said the Southern Wesleyan University offers a pre-course “Project Read” which supports reading. District One is continuing efforts which focus on new ELA standards which Moore said are “very difficult” and “in depth”.
District One teachers also attended a fifteen day PLC challenge in Atlanta where they received information which will help other teams, Moore said.
He said SC School report cards will be released Oct. 10 and he and Director of Testing and Accountability April Hays will present more information to the Board at their meeting Oct. 29.
Moore told the Board that District One had 42 students with perfect scores on the SC Ready testing this past year.
Becky Brady, Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, reported that the Student Nutrition program served more than 11,847 more reimbursable meals over the first 22 days of the school year than last year.
The seven CEP schools serving free meals increased by 7,352 meals. Two new schools were added this year, Wren Elementary which served 3,665 more meals and Spearman Elementary which served 2,581 more meals. Revenue for the program for August increased by $112,274 and profit increased by $120,428, Brady said.
Assistant Superintendent of Administration & Instruction Dr. Jeff Wilson presented information and recommended approval of nine policies.
The Board approved second reading on AR JKE-R addressing expulsion of students.
First reading was held on a new cell phone and electronic device policy for students.
Dr. Wilson said the policy is modeled on the SC Board of Education recommended policy and addresses use of all electronic devises “bell to bell” during the school day. It includes a process of how to deal with students and includes warnings and actions to be taken for violations of the new policy. Implementation will begin next month. The policy is to be implemented full time beginning in January, he said. The policy is JICj – Prohibition of personal Electronic Devices during the school day.
The Board also approved first reading on the following:
KEC and AR KEC-R – Public Concerns and Complaints about Instructional Resources
IJL – Library Materials Selection and Adoption
IJK – Supplementary Materials Selection and Adoption
EFE and AR EFE-R – Competitive Food Sales/Vending Machines
The vending machine policy addresses new guidelines on when machines can be operated. They will be shut down during breakfast and lunch, Dr. Wilson said.
The Board also approved the proposed 2025-26 School Calendar. The calendar is the same for all five Anderson school districts Dr. Wilson said.
