By Rob Way|February 10, 2020 at 11:49 AM EST - Updated February 10 at 5:50 PM
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County School District board approved two new proposals on Monday that would remove the eighth grade from Liberty Hill Academy and add two grades to Meeting Street School at Brentwood.
One of the plans will move all eighth graders at Liberty Hill Academy, the school district’s K-8 alternative program and day treatment center, to Daniel Jenkins Academy. Seven board members voted on Monday in favor of this.
The proposal stated that Daniel Jenkins has a four-classroom pod available that can accommodate the Liberty Hill eighth graders.
“Liberty Hill classrooms and hallways are smaller than Daniel Jenkins. The small hallways make transitions difficult,” the proposal stated.
It also stated that over 45-percent of Liberty Hill’s 1,450 discipline referrals this school year happened in the eighth grade. The total referrals at Daniel Jenkins is currently at 482.
Last November, a Liberty Hill Academy teacher had to be taken to the hospital after police say a student attacked her.In November 2018, documents revealed 26 incidents at the school in which staff members were injured on school grounds.
“By shifting the Liberty Hill eighth-graders to Daniel Jenkins, we would be able to create more manageable learning environments at both schools and increase the capacity to manage challenging student behaviors,” the proposal stated.
Four Liberty Hill teachers and one teaching assistant have also volunteered to move with the students to Daniel Jenkins.
Adding new grade levels to Meeting Street School
VIDEO: Meeting St. School one step closer to adding 7th, 8th grades
Meeting Street School officials asked the school board on Monday to add two grades to their Brentwood campus, and seven board members voted in favor of it, one abstained.
The elementary school first entered a public-private partnership with the school district in 2014. Right now, it serves pre-K through sixth grade. If the proposal is approved at the next board meeting, the seventh grade would be added in fall 2020 and eighth grade would be added in fall 2021.
The Meeting Street School also serves pre-K through fifth-grade students at their Burns campus.
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