Aspiring engineers wanted
A.J.Whittenberg School prepares to open
DECEMBER 18, 2009 10:02 a.m. 
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Her first job will be to recruit students to fill up more than 200 spots available to early elementary children all over the county. Attendance planners for Greenville County Schools have identified 72 children in the neighborhoods around the school who will be assigned to the school – out of up to 320 tiny desks to fill. Continue reading...
School Board news, notes
The 15-minute rule debate continues
FEBRUARY 11, 2010 10:08 a.m. (1)
It’s only a difference of 15 minutes, but changing start and release times for tens of thousands of public middle- and high-school students in Greenville County has been five years in the making.
Under the current schedule countywide, elementary schools open at 8 a.m., middle schools at 8:15 a.m. and high schools at 8:30 a.m. In the afternoon, school lets out at 2:30 p.m. for elementary, 3 p.m. for middle school and 3:30 p.m. for high school. Continue reading...
Proterra's employment impact
1,300 jobs would rank bus maker No. 4
FEBRUARY 11, 2010 4:10 p.m. (0)
Energy-efficient bus maker, Proterra, would become Greenville’s fourth-largest manufacturer if it is able to make good on its jobs projection of 1,300 hires in the next five years.
However, while Greenville was once known as a manufacturing city, its jobs base has changed just like the rest of the nation. The biggest employers now are in the service industry with 36 percent of jobs falling in the category, according to the federal bureau of labor statistics. Continue reading...
Hours on the bus await some students
Most parents opt to drive children to school
MARCH 8, 2010 9:25 a.m. (3)
“I came to hear about her bus number,” said Nair, who grew up riding the bus to school in New York State. “I went and it was, ‘Oh no, your kids wouldn’t take the bus.’ I was taken aback.”
Nair said she would find out the status quo at Stone – where only about six magnet students take the bus – was for parents to drive their children to school. She has since learned as her three children have enrolled at the Sterling School and Southside High that children who take advantage of the district’s various choice programs countywide rarely take the bus. Her own children would have to be in their Travelers Rest driveway by 6 a.m. to catch a bus into town. Continue reading...
'Enough is Enough'
Parents, educators to rally for state funding
APRIL 18, 2010 7:47 p.m. (0)
This week’s revelation that state revenues are $60 million lower than lawmakers had thought – largely a clerical error – has done nothing to help the financial picture of the state’s public schools.
Educators, parents and other stakeholders in public schools will be rallying Monday to let legislators know in Columbia they are paying attention to the cuts and would prefer to see state-revenue declines addressed with a scalpel rather than an axe. The 5 p.m. rally will be at the International Center for Automotive Research off Millennium Drive near the intersection of Interstate 85 and Laurens Road. Continue reading...
School district buys more used buses
85 vehicles from Kentucky will join fleet
MAY 26, 2010 7:03 a.m. (0)
South Carolina has resorted to buying old buses from Kentucky to keep its own aging fleet running – again.
The Department of Education announced Tuesday it won bids for 85 used buses from a collection of Kentucky school districts that were replacing theirs with new vehicles. The South Carolina department used money – spending an average of $3,826 per used bus – collected from scrapping the remains of buses already cannibalized for parts. Continue reading...
School budget includes cuts, mill increase
JUNE 3, 2010 8:17 a.m. (0)
The Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees on Tuesday voted 6 to 5 to give final approval to a $400 million general fund budget which cuts nearly $23 million in positions and programs, and enacts a 2.2-mill tax increase on businesses, rental homes and personal property.
For the owner of a small business with property valued at $200,000, the additional 2.2 mills will tack on an additional $26.40 a year to their tax bill. Likewise for the owner of a business with property valued at $1 million, the annual tax bill will go up by $132. Continue reading...
Please, no new taxes, say Devenger residents
JULY 26, 2010 7:12 a.m. (0)
It took nearly half of a two hour meeting for Greenville County Council to vote to put a hold on a request by the Devenger Tax District for two-tenths of a mil tax hike and a $10 fee increase.
Most of that time was taken up by Devenger residents who pleaded their case before council both for and against the request. There were allegations of misuse of funds pitted against the need to repair crumbling infrastructure and amenities in the subdivision. Continue reading...
County has a budget surplus
Kernell: extra $380,000 due to controlled expenses
AUGUST 26, 2010 10:31 a.m. (0)
Greenville County’s $380,000 budget surplus for the last fiscal year has its roots in conservative business practices and maximizing available resources, county officials have said.
The fact that Greenville has the largest population of any county in the state but ranks 43rd out of 46 counties in the number of employees per 1,000 residents is illustrative, said Joe Kernell, Greenville County administrator. Continue reading...
For teachers, a working vacation
SEPTEMBER 5, 2010 7:22 p.m. (0)
Another spent a week visiting farms and agribusinesses across South Carolina.
Others studied the usefulness of dental floss and duct tape in emergency band instrument repair and the beauty of butterfly gardens. Continue reading...
Mascots and motorcycles
Schools look to new ways to keep students motivated
SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 7:42 p.m. (0)
Some motivate students by getting pelted with whipped cream pies.
Others might spend 24 hours on a school’s rooftop, dressing for a day in a silly costume or going nose-to-nose with some species of barnyard animal. Continue reading...
County Council notes
From the Sept. 7 meeting
SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 10:35 a.m. (0)
The expenditure qualifies under Council District Expense – Part II Community Requests account definition, according to documents accompanying the request.
Council also learned the sheriff’s department has been awarded a $225,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security to install the first part of an upgrade to sheriff’s helicopter infrared imaging system. The FLIR system allows the helicopter to produce an infrared image of objects on the ground, transmit them to ground commanders instantly so that the commanders see what the helicopter sees in real time. Continue reading...
Andrew Wyeth: artist, grandfather
Granddaughter puts new face on the late artist
OCTOBER 11, 2010 7:18 a.m. (1)
But no one knows more about the life and work of Andrew Wyeth, the late American artist whose work helped transform the Greenville County Museum of Art from a regional museum to one with national and international prominence.
“I knew him as Andrew Wyeth, iconic artist. But I also knew him as Grandpa Andy,” said Victoria Wyeth, the late artist’s only grandchild and the niece of painter Jamie Wyeth. Continue reading...
Greenville County Council notes
From the Jan. 4 meeting
JANUARY 6, 2011 2:08 p.m. (0)
Greenville County Council Chairman H.G. “Butch” Kirven and Vice Chairman Bob Taylor were re-elected to the top spots on council by acclamation during Tuesday night’s organizational meeting.
Dan Rawls Continue reading...
The week in pictures: 1/7/11
Look who's in the Journal this week
JANUARY 6, 2011 2:46 p.m. (0)
Ariail: Ludwig case doesn’t define him
Former prosecutor hopes started Greenville County's drug court
JANUARY 21, 2011 11:25 a.m. (0)
Ludwig, a Greenville businessman, received probation for driving his Maserati through a man’s house and killing him.
Ariail hopes instead to be remembered for starting Greenville County’s drug court, for improving the quality of lawyers in the solicitor’s office and for pursuing justice in each case. Continue reading...
Paying the price
Week of snow days means extra school
JANUARY 21, 2011 11:57 a.m. (0)
Schools will be open Friday, April 1, Monday, April 4 and Thursday, June 2.
In addition, registration for kindergarten and first grade was moved to Wednesday and Thursday of this week and parents were able to submit Round 2 Magnet School applications until 12 p.m. on Thursday. Continue reading...
The Heritage Green space
County looks for ways to improve public awareness of arts area.
FEBRUARY 3, 2011 3:39 p.m. (1)
The home of four museums, a community theater and the county’s main library is just three blocks from Main Street, yet is not widely thought of as a part of Greenville’s burgeoning downtown.
Some say that’s because of Academy Street, one of Greenville’s main central city thoroughfares that dissects Heritage Green from the rest of downtown and a more pedestrian-friendly Main Street. Continue reading...
School growth slows
But Greenville will still need more classroom space
FEBRUARY 28, 2011 8:16 a.m. (0)
Two other new schools – a high school in southern Greenville County and a middle school in the northern end – remain in the plan designed to accommodate the district’s projected enrollment through 2025.
The revised plan, which looked at updated birth rates, planned subdivisions, school program changes and the economy, also calls for the conversion of an expanded Rudolph Gordon Elementary to a K-8 school and additions to seven other elementary and high schools. Continue reading...
Billion dollar project completed
Superintendent: "The promises made to our community have been fulfilled"
MAY 23, 2011 8:29 a.m. (0)
With the opening of A.J. Whittenberg Elementary in August, the district’s unprecedented $1.06 billion construction program officially came to an end.
“The promises made to our community have been fulfilled,” said Superintendent Phinnize Fisher. Continue reading...
Local teens start revolution
Mauldin student leads campaign for healthier school lunches
JUNE 17, 2011 11:06 a.m. (1)
Fed up with the lack of real nutrition in school lunches, where he says, iceberg lettuce and a few tomatoes pass for a salad and a soy patty colored and flavored is called a hamburger, he decided to do something.
Riddle started a blog called Operation Food Revolution: Mauldin High School that called on students to make healthier food choices and demand more nutritious options. Continue reading...
Fountain Inn to get its own high school
School board votes to buy land near Main St.
JUNE 30, 2011 10:50 a.m. (0)
That could soon change.
The Greenville County Schools board voted Tuesday night to buy 61.54 acres of land on Quillen Avenue just blocks off Main Street in Fountain Inn from three property owners for nearly $2.2 million. Continue reading...
Students do the shuffle
School board votes to reassign nearly 1.500 students to new schools
JUNE 30, 2011 11:01 a.m. (0)
“We moved to the Highgrove subdivision mainly for Oakview Elementary,” said Nath Mahendranath. “It’s the kind of school we want our children to attend.”
But Highgrove is one of a long list of subdivisions that is being reassigned to a new school beginning the school year after next. Continue reading...
Jail Project, case closed
Nonprofit Law in Action advocated for indigent detainees' right to counsel
JULY 27, 2011 1:54 p.m. (0)
Some detainees spent as long as six months in jail waiting adjudication of charges that carried maximum sentences of 30 days.
Henry and Law In Action, the nonprofit organization he founded, started the Jail Project, a pilot program where volunteers and then paid investigators made daily jail visits and worked to try to gain the early and safe release on bond of those charged with minor crimes. For the past three years Law in Action has advocated for indigent detainees’ right to counsel. Continue reading...
Graduation programs cut
Most grants that helped fund the programs have expired
SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 11:41 a.m. (0)
Most of the grants that have helped fund the program for the past five years have expired, forcing the program to be significantly cut back this year, said Grier Mullins, executive director of Public Education Partners, one of the organizations that started the program after realizing that one in four students who started high school in Greenville County didn’t finish.
One of the five schools in the program – Greer – will have a graduation coach this year to work with students at-risk of dropping out. Continue reading...
School board tentatively approves new district lines
Redistricting reflects demographic changes over past decade
JANUARY 12, 2012 12:04 p.m. (0)
It is unknown right now how many Greenville County residents will find themselves living in a different school board district under one of the two plans developed by the South Carolina Budget and Control Board for consideration by school trustees, said Roger Meek, board chairman.
“We know the area, we just don’t know the people right now,” he said. Continue reading...
Three schools make worst list
School officials call report bogus
JANUARY 19, 2012 1:56 p.m. (0)
NeighborhoodScout, a website for potential home buyers that includes crime statistics, school performance and real estate appreciation rates, listed Lakeview, Berea and Woodmont middle schools on its list of the country’s worst schools.
One Greenville County charter school, Wohali Academy, made the list. The school ceased operation at the end of December 2009. Continue reading...
Gordon "lived a life that mattered"
Dr. Rudolph Gordon had hand in many of school district’s milestones
MARCH 1, 2012 12:23 p.m. (0)
He wanted to help every student perform to his or her potential and to provide the resources necessary to do so.
And students today – 12 years after Gordon retired – are still benefiting from two of Gordon’s major accomplishments: the creation of the school district’s five-pronged Education Plan and the beginning of what turned out to be a $1 billion school construction program that renovated, added to or built 70 schools designed to give all students equal facilities no matter where in the county they lived. Continue reading...
Board could name new superintendent Saturday
Three finalists include two from South Carolina, one from Indiana
MARCH 22, 2012 12:40 p.m. (0)
Read more about the finalists here
Members of the Greenville County school board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. to choose from three finalists to replace Dr. Phinnize Fisher – Burke Royster, the man who has handled the school district’s day-to-day operations for the past six years as deputy superintendent; Dr. Lynn Moody, who has led one of South Carolina’s best school districts in York District 3; and Dr. Eugene White, a leading figure in national education circles who wrote a book on leadership without excuses. Continue reading...
Divided school board names Royster superintendent
Man who has led school district’s day-to-day operations gets top job
MARCH 29, 2012 11:18 a.m. (0)
A divided school board approved Royster’s appointment through a 7 to 5 vote after 14 hours of deliberation behind closed doors Saturday and another three hours in executive session Tuesday night after the conclusion of its regular monthly meeting.
Voting to hire Royster were Megan Hickerson, Lynda Leventis-Wells, Tommie Reece, Danna Rholeder, Chuck Saylors, Pat Sudduth and board chairman Roger Meek. Continue reading...
'Client H' investigation raises more troubling questions for DSN
Did Disabilities and Special Needs violations contribute to the death of a Greenville group home resident?
APRIL 19, 2012 10:42 a.m. (3)
Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs has been cited by state officials for violating the standard of care in the Feb. 11 death of Heather Dawn Worchester Lemon, 36, a resident at one of the agency’s group homes.
The citation came in a recertification review of the Civitan Community Residence and is detailed in a state Department of Health and Environmental Control report dated March 8. The report was made available to the Journal by sources close to the situation. Continue reading...
Fisher: ‘It’s about the children’
Schools chief retires after 43 years in education
APRIL 19, 2012 10:48 a.m. (0)
Not surprising at all, since “doing what’s best for children” was Fisher’s mantra during her eight years as superintendent of the nation’s 49th largest school district.
Fisher’s last day as superintendent is Friday, which is also the first day that her former deputy superintendent Burke Royster is elevated to the district’s top administrative position. Continue reading...
Disabilities agency faces County Council
Interim director, lawyer say they are working to correct litany of problems
MAY 18, 2012 8:43 a.m. (4)
The interim director of the Greenville Disabilities and Special Needs Board painted himself as rescuer of the embattled county agency at Tuesday’s long-anticipated meeting between the Greenville County Council and DSN board and staff.
Patrick Haddon told the council Committee of the Whole that he found the state-funded agency mired in red ink with a disturbing record of medical errors when he took the interim job in February – a choice that itself drew criticism due to the speed with which Haddon replaced his predecessor, who was fired, and Haddon’s lack of experience in the disabilities field. Continue reading...
County Council disbands disabilities board
State disability staff will run local agency until new board can be created
MAY 25, 2012 9:16 a.m. (4)
The troubled Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs Board became history Tuesday evening when Greenville County Council unanimously voted to rescind the 1992 ordinance creating the board and voted to establish a new board under county supervision.
The move effectively begins the healing process for an embattled agency that has faced financial problems and a litany of criticisms from the public regarding transparency issues and the amount of care owed the 2,200 disabled clients it is chartered to serve. Continue reading...
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