CCSD School Board Meeting January 13, 2026
Call to Order
The Colleton County Board of Trustees met January 13, 2026 to conduct a Committee of the Whole Meeting.
The welcome was given by Chairperson Nixon as well as the invocation. The Pledge was recited by all attendees.
Mission Statement
The CCMS Young Authors Program, led by Ms. Literacy (Sheila Keaise) 7-10 young authors recited the mission statement for Colleton County School District.
“Colleton County School District will prepare every student to graduate with a 21st century education to be globally competitive for their chose college and/or career path.”
The Civility Pledge was recited by all Board members present.
“I pledge to build a stronger and more effective school board by advocating for civil engagement, respecting others and their viewpoints and finding solutions for the betterment of my school district.”
Board member Cunningham attended by phone, and Board member Daryl Irwin was on the way to the meeting and arrived soon thereafter.
Chairperson Nixon the asked for approval of agenda. A motion was made, seconded, and pass unanimously.
Chairperson’s Report
Board members were reminded of the SCSBA Annual Convention.
Staff Recognitions
Since January is School Board Recognition month, Superintendent Williams took the opportunity to thank board members for their work on the board to serve the schools and by that service, the community.
Superintendent Williams then recognized CCSD staff for going Above and Beyond.
Above and Beyond Staff
Bells Elementary School—Sarah Pye
Black Street Early Childhood Center—Shanice Ellis
Cottageville Elementary School—Brandi Spencer Phoenix
Forest Hills Elementary School—Erica Grant
Hendersonville Elementary—Brenda Chisolm
Northside Elementary—Anthony Crimely
TCTC—Hannah Hampleton
CALC—Carolyn Lewis
No Old Business
No New Business
Policy Items
Nixon asked the committee to schedule a meeting within the next two weeks to address the 4 policy items, elect a committee chairperson among themselves, and get back with the Board.
Superintendent’s Report
Jessica Williams introduced Ms. Literacy (Sheila Keaise), Executive Director of Community Innovations. Through a Young Author’s Program conceived and implemented by Sheila Keaise, 10 Colleton County Middle School students are now published authors. The Book is entitled 2025 Colleton Middle School Anthology. Mrs. Williams bought some of these books to distribute to community. Keaise recognized those who helped at the school and the sponsors who helped make this possible. The newly published students are:
Maylin Solis
Anthony DeLeon
Giselle Migeul
Abigail Tingle
Jasmine Asango
Kristen Ebanks
Liliana Marcial-Bartolo
Lillianne Pasenio
Ana Tamoxtle-Gomez
Lois Agbley-Oyeh
Some of the young authors gave brief synopsizes of their books:
One book was titled IAC (International Association of Cats) which is about a cat who thinks they are the superior species and in fact thinks of itself as a God. However, when the cat finds out people actually enjoy dogs more, he gets mad.
Another book spoke on younger students trying to learn another language and those who may have difficulty speaking, and students also trying to learn more.
There was a book that told people about interesting sea animals and a fun fact about them, showed pictures of their environment, and how they look.
There was also a book that talked about fruits and vegetables and how they benefit us. The author wrote about benefits such as mental health, whether the food has Vitamin C, and how the fruit or vegetable can make us healthier.
Mrs. Williams also presented the Board with two calendar drafts for the upcoming school year. The drafts are as follows:
Calendar survey 1:
• Similar to current calendar
• Monday, August 3rd start date.
• Fall Break
• Closed on Election Day
• Full week for Thanksgiving
• First semester completed before
Christmas
• School ends by Memorial Day
Calendar Draft 2:
• Start date of August 6th
• No Fall Break
• Closed on Election Day
• Shorter Thanksgiving Break 3-days
• First semester ends before Christmas
• School ends by Memorial Day
CCSD Staff voted the following on the two drafts over the course of a voting period extending 12/15-01/28. The results are as follows:
426 responses from staff on drafts
Calendar1-404 votes
Calendar 2-23 votes
Regarding the questions of having multi-year calendar instead of year by year the results are as follows:
316 staff vote 2 yr calendar
69 staff vote 3 yr calendar
42 staff vote 5 yr calendar
A question for high school staff regarding the timing of Thanksgiving Break with the variation and instructional days before and after the break and how this impacts a teacher’s ability to review content to prepare students for the End of Course exams was proposed. Results of staff answers varied.
Board member Witkin, while appreciating the effort to make the best calendar possible, did not like that either calendar draft did not provide a later start date which she is a proponent of having.
Human Resources
Regarding human resources a job fair will be coming to post bus drivers, custodians, and food nutrition operators for the district.
Finance Report
The regular report was provided to Board members for review. The Board had no questions.
Brian Nicholson auditor with Maulder and Jenkins was introduced to present 2025 audit/financial statement.
The results of 2025 audit are as follows:
The audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards in government. The company issued a clean or an unmodified opinion on the district’s June 30, 2025, financial statements.
The firm also issued a yellowbook report (report over the internal controls at the district). There were no material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies, and no matters of non-compliance to report.
A third report (single audit) issued stated the district relies on federal funding and whenever any entity or district expends over $750,000.00 in federal awards a single audit is required. The audit issued an unmodified opinion, no material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies, and no noncompliance matters to be reported.
An adjustments report was also presented. There were no past adjustments for the June 30, 2025, audit.
Lastly the audit reviewed company representation with management. The firm is required to get representations with management and did receive same.
Mr. Nicholson thanked Ms. Barrett and her team for getting things ready for the audit. He acknowledged the audit can be an invasive process and was grateful for the cooperation and assistance he received.
Academic and Student Affairs
Dr. Jenkins
A copy of report Dr. Jenkins’ report was provided to the board. The report stated that I-Ready and EOC data is forthcoming.
CCHS Principal Uirica Bodison spoke on turnaround plan for the high school. The CCHS plan focused on graduation rates, reading and math EOC, and math generally.
Operation Management
The Operation Management Division Director of Office of Buildings and Grounds, Justin Simpson presented an update on projects for the district. Work has been started on the retention ponds in the district and is an ongoing project. The lighting project at CCMS in gym has been finished. The TCTC fire alarm wiring project was approved by State Fire Marshall, and they look to finalize the project in approximately in the near future. The District Offices HVAC project is close to completion. Simpson reported on Capital projects completed: issues with high school boilers, added the mini split in the middle school IT data room next to transportation, serviced generators, replaced the doors at Black Street and middle school gym, installed a unit at Hendersonville for the cafeteria, and installed a unit in the IT data closet at Bells main IT data closet.
Transportation
Gary Bradley, Director of Student Transportation addressed the school bus driver situation. Bradley mentioned the job fair where driver positions would be featured and shared a former driver with over 25+ years of driving experience was coming back to help.
There was a motion to allow board members to participate in executive session electronically. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
A motion was made to enter executive session. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Upon return from executive session a motion was made to enter back into open session. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Upon return to open session a motion was made to adjourn. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned.
