SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - In a special-called meeting Friday morning, the Dorchester District Two school board gave their blessing to allow the superintendent to move specific schools, grades or teams to virtual learning when necessary.

According to superintendent Joseph Pye, Friday’s meeting was a way to inform parents and the community of the district’s plan going forward when it comes to handling COVID-19.

They want to avoid moving the entire district to virtual learning at all costs, so they plan to handle switching to virtual learning on a case-by-case basis.

According to Pye, if 30 percent of students and staff in a team, grade, or school are out because of Covid-19 or other reasons, they would then switch them to virtual learning.

Pye says he did not want to call a special meeting every single time a school or grade needed to switch to virtual learning, so Friday’s meeting was a way to all him to make decisions about schools as he would in other emergency situations.

According to district officials, this all stems from the rapidly rising number of Covid-19 cases in the community, as well as the toll that teachers and staff at schools in the district are facing.

Several principals who spoke during Friday’s meeting say they have administrators and guidance counselors covering classes, Spanish teachers covering AP Calculus classes and multiple classes being held at the same time in the library. All of the principals shared that their staff is burnt out and that student safety and quality of learning is being jeopardized.

According to the superintendent, that 30 percent guideline- when 30 percent of students and staff are out of school--is something that is used only as a loose guideline but not a firm rule.

“We want [parents] to know that’s how we’re looking at it,” he said. “Just because it’s 30, we may call it. There are many other things. It could be a school that’s at 25 or 28, but it could be the size of the school, the amount of help they have. It could be a severe issue with operating the school, and that’s why we have to do it.”

There is one school that the superintendent says will be moving to virtual learning next week, but he did not announce which one at this meeting. Pye says he wants all parents to learn about the switch to virtual learning at the same time.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The Fort Dorchester varsity basketball teams warmed up for region play with a sweep of Berkeley on Jan. 5.

The Fort boys team claimed a 71-48 win over the Stags in North Charleston to improve to 12-1. The Patriots’ only loss came to Riverside on Dec. 29.

“We have a little momentum going into region play but our guys need to get focused,” Fort Dorchester coach Thomas McElveen said. “They aren’t really being challenged much and when you start thinking you’re good that’s when you lose because you don’t do the little things that you normally do. That’s what happened in the Christmas tournament. We had a lot of missed layups and missed free throws. We should have won that game.”

The Patriots did seem to have better focus when they hosted Berkeley and jumped out to a 26-10 lead in the opening quarter. McElveen was then comfortable substituting freely and his team rolled to a 36-23 halftime lead and eventually the victory.

Senior Devin Geddis led the charge, scoring a game-high 16 points. Senior Malik Horlback added 11 points and senior Omarion Green added 10. Chauncey Capers, Marion (Boots) Mitchell, Davion Joyner, Demetris McKelvey, Camden Crummey and Knick Pickering also scored for the Patriots.

Fort Dorchester was 11 of 20 at the free-throw line. Pickering and Horlback led in rebounds with four each.

Monterio McNeil led Berkeley with 14 points. Kaden Gamble added 10 points for the Stags.

Fort Dorchester girls

The Fort Dorchester girls earned a 47-29 victory over Berkeley to improve to 10-5 on the season.

Junior Denver Mathis led the way for Fort Dorchester with 12 points. Junior Kwayasia White added eight points and senior Jasmine Mitchell added seven. Makenna Bines, Kai Mack, Cailah Tucker, Genesis Johnson, London Alford and Cailyn Webber also scored for the Lady Patriots. Fort Dorchester was 14 of 20 at the free-throw line.

Mitchell and Mack led in rebounds with a team-high eight each.

Fort Dorchester opens region play Jan. 11 at home against Ashley Ridge. The girls’ game is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the boys’ game will follow. They will then hit the road for games at Goose Creek Jan. 14 and at Stall Jan. 18.

The Goose Creek boys are ranked 10th in the most recent S.C. Basketball Coaches Association Class AAAAA boys poll while Fort Dorchester is ranked third. The Stall girls are ranked seventh.

Redistricting in Dorchester County is complete as of Dec. 13, when the county council gave the final approval for the plan.

While there are still seven council districts, some are now a little bigger and others a little smaller.

“Redistricting is vital because we are required to follow the plan that’s been adopted for the next 10 years,” said Dorchester County Council chairman, Bill Hearn in a statement.

The process of redistricting includes redrawing the lines of districts from which public officials are elected to match population changes from the previous decade following the census count. It’s the law.

“The general principle is ... trying to bring the districts into line with current population distribution to conform to the constitutional mandate of one person, one vote,” said Lynn Peague, vice president of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina.

The next step is for the council to notify the elections and voter registration office and other entities that will be affected by the plan. This way residents can be informed if they’re living in new districts, which affects where they vote.

It is up to the director of elections and voter registration to ensure the changes to districts are properly completed before the upcoming primary elections in late spring.

“This is a process that has to be done very meticulously so that the voters get put in the right districts and the right precincts,” said Todd Billman, director of Elections and Voter Registration in Dorchester County.

Numbers given by Billman show that 36,182 voters will be affected by council’s redistricting, which is just a little under the entire population of Hilton Head, S.C.

New voter registration cards will also have to be issued so residents will be able to vote in the coming elections and the November general election in their new districts.

“It needs to be done well. It’s only done, you know, every 10 years, so it’s a huge undertaking that I feel like every election director realizes the importance of it being done efficiently and accurately,” said Billman.

New lines

The new districts must comply with local, state and federal laws, like the Voting Rights Act. From there, it’s all about making sure the correct number of voters are distributed into each district.

“An ideal district is determined by taking the total population of the county and dividing it by the number of districts,” Dr. John Ruoff, from the Ruoff Group, which does research and policy analysis that includes local redistricting in South Carolina for the state NAACP.

The numbers show that is what Dorchester County did. With a population of over 161,000, each of the seven districts have roughly 23,000 residents. But the rural areas are now mostly in District 1, and District 3 has shrunk dramatically.

Maps provided by council shows District 1 now covers the upper and western areas of Dorchester County, from the Orangeburg County line running along the Colleton and Berkeley county lines to the east toward Summerville.

It includes the towns of Reevesville, St. George, Harleyville and Ridgeville, and the communities of Shady Grove, Rosinville, Texas, Grover, Dorchester and a portion of Givhans.

Council District 3 now surrounds District 4 from the east and Ashley Phosphate south of Dorchester Road, then down Ashley River Road to the county line.

The new plan puts Wescott and McKewn Subdivisions into Council District 4 and out of the east Ashley Phosphate area. The Ponds will stay in District 7.

There is more to come. Because of the census data and rate the local population has grown over the past 10 years, in the weeks ahead, new lines will be drawn and voters will be shifted by Berkeley County Council.

A controversial process

Current redistricting efforts are often criticized because of how it will affect elections. To get a redistricting ordinance passed, those who are currently holding office are, in a sense, deciding which areas they will run in. Even when following legal and proper procedures, the process of moving different voters into different places often benefits incumbent candidates.

“It doesn’t have to keep people from voting, it keeps people from having a meaningful vote,” said Peague.

When redrawing district lines, the council is required to follow certain procedures, including multiple public hearings. The Dorchester County Council began its redistricting efforts in October 2021 and help multiple such hearings between then and the Dec. 13 vote.

Regardless of county, voters should stay vigilant about being up to date with their registrations and who they are voting for. The June primaries are just five months away.

“There are a lot better ways to do redistricting than to have the incumbent decide what districts they want to run in,” said Ruoff. “But the courts have said that’s OK by them.”

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Orangeburg Road is just one of several roads in Dorchester County that residents say is deadly traffic nightmare.

“It’s crazy. It’s just crazy,” Summerville resident Scot McLauchlin says.

McLauchlin lives on the road and says he’s lost several mailboxes because of drivers speeding and not paying attention. He says he’s lost as many as five in just one month.

“We’ve been here a long time. It used to be a little small place. A few houses on the side of the road,” McLauchlin, a 30-year resident of the area, says. “Raising our children, I wouldn’t let them check the mailbox, my wife either because of the fact that you can’t avoid an accident.”

The growth in and around Dorchester County takes the blame from many residents who are upset about car accidents in the Tri-County area.

But it’s not just the car crashes that are a problem on Orangeburg Road but the bumper-to-bumper traffic during and outside of rush hour.

“I’ve seen ambulances, firetrucks get stuck in this. I just think something needs to be done. How many more times do we have to say anything?” McLauchlin says.

McLauchlin says he’s reached out to SCDOT and Dorchester County several times and has not gotten any answers or help.

“People have been hit. Children are walking. I see bicycles all the time, and it’s just out of hand. You know, even when there is traffic, you’ll see people try to skirt and go around and it’s crazy, it’s just crazy,” McLauchlin says.

The most recent data from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety states there have been more than 60 collisions in 2021; 97 incidents in 2020, one being fatal; and 127 crashes in 2019.

McLauchlin’s multiple mailboxes are also included in those numbers. He says he’s witnessed cars going nearly double the speed limit.

The SCDOT has not yet responded to a request for information on whether a traffic study has been conducted. Such a study can help determine what types of solutions -- like stop lights, road widening or even a stop sign -- could help.

Dangerous intersection? Pothole problems? Endless construction? Tell us about the traffic nightmare that’s driving you crazy here and we may send Live 5 First Alert Traffic Reporter Cameron Bopp out to get you answers.

Copyright 2021 WCSC. All rights reserved.

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – A road safety project in Dorchester County is a finalist for a national award.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation announced Friday its SC 61 Rural Road Safety Project, Phase I in Dorchester County, has been named a finalist in the 2021 America’s Transportation Awards competition.

SCDOT leaders say the project is one of the “Top 12” projects across the nation competing for the two highest awards in the program: The Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award.

The SC 61 Rural Road Safety Project – Phase I became eligible for the honors in August of 2021 when it was named a winner in the “Operations Excellence” category in the first round of the competition.

This project is part of SCDOT’s Rural Road Safety Program in the agency’s Strategic 10-Year Plan to Rebuild SC’s Roads & Bridges.

“SCDOT engineers developed a safety improvement plan in 2019 for Phase I, a 6.5-mile corridor,” said Robert Kudelka with SCDOT. “Following a public meeting, SCDOT staff reviewed hundreds of comments and suggestions submitted by members of numerous historic preservation and conservation groups.”

He said the major concern was a loss of the centuries-old oak trees that create the road canopy and other scenic features. The plan was refined using the comments provided by the public and the special interest groups.

The result was a new roadbed and pavement, wider lanes with three-foot paved shoulder, center and outside edge rumble strips and more signage and paint markings to increase visibility. “Safety was greatly enhanced and not one of the large oak trees was removed,” said Kudelka.

“SC 61 – Phase I was an exceptional project designed by a team that listened to the concerns of the public. The goals of providing a much safer roadway for motorists, while preserving the beauty of this historic Lowcountry landscape were both achieved. I’d like to express my gratitude to our design team and the community members who helped tailor this work that resulted in an award-winning project,” said Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall.

SCDOT leaders say the grand prize will be determined by a panel of independent of judges and experts within the transportation industry.

The People’s Choice Award will be selected through online voting beginning Friday, September 24, 2021, through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, October 25, 2021. Votes can be cast at www.AmericasTransportationAwards.org.

The winners of both awards include a $10,000 cash prize that can be donated to a charity or transportation-related scholarship fund as chosen by the winners. The awards competition is sponsored by the American Association of Transportation & Highway Officials (AASHTO), The American Automobile Association (AAA) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.