New CCSD board members want to address student academic success and hardship

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Charleston County voters have elected two new board members to represent Mount Pleasant and North Charleston public schools.

A total of four seats were open for election on the Charleston County School District (CCSD) Board of Trustees.

Carolina Jewett has two students in the district and will represent Mount Pleasant schools in District 2. For North Charleston schools in District 4, Kevin Hollinshead will be back on the board as a graduate parent and now grandparent in CCSD.

Jewett is new to the school board and says she is eager to work with Superintendent Anita Huggins.

Jewett believes that academic success is the result of many factors, from adequate school funding to supportive resources outside the classroom.

“You can put a curriculum out there, but if you don’t implement it correctly, it won’t be successful,” she said.

Since Hollinshead last served on the board in 2020, many North Charleston schools have improved in test scores and graduation rates. He wants to continue that trend by placing the best teachers in every classroom.

“We can’t have people going to high-poverty schools and only staying there for three or four years and then leaving, because that leaves a void within that community and within that school,” Hollinshead explained.

Hollinshead said many of the students he will soon represent will face hardships such as homelessness and poverty, and believes they deserve additional attention from school leaders.

“A child cannot learn effectively in school if he or she does not know where he or she is going to sleep at night,” he said.

When it comes to books and instructional materials in Charleston County Schools, Jewett has spoken out against censorship. She said parents have the right to make choices for their own children, but not to restrict access to all students.

“I trust and believe in our teachers and our educators and the staff who have been appointed, voted in and hired and who have gone through the training to be able to make these decisions for us,” Jewett explained.

Both Jewett and Hollinshead want to join the board as a ‘neutral voice’.

“This can’t be about standing for something because I stand for it politically,” Jewett told News 4. “It has to be about, ‘Is this the right decision for the kids?’”

Elected board members agree that a divisive and polarizing school board is detrimental to student success.

“We are here for this, not for personalities or ideology. We are here to do what is best for our children in Charleston County,” Hollinshead added.