Summary:
Colleton 01 is a South Carolina school district serving roughly 4,539 students across 8 schools—6 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school—and currently ranks 73rd out of 75 districts in the state, placing it in the bottom 5% academically.
For parents, the standout bright spot is Bells Elementary, the district’s smallest school (249 students), which outperforms every other campus. It ranks 510th of 649 schools statewide (21st percentile), with 60% of 4th graders proficient in ELA—nearly matching the state average—and 40% in math, about 13 points above the district norm. Bells has also improved dramatically, climbing 68 rank positions in two years. In contrast, Hendersonville Elementary ranks 627th (3rd percentile) despite spending $17,828 per student, showing that money alone doesn’t drive results. Colleton County Middle posted a perfect 100% proficiency rate in Algebra 1 on the EOCEP exam, though this likely reflects a small, select group of test-takers. Meanwhile, Black Street Early Childhood Center spends the most per student ($26,046) but has a 52.1% chronic absenteeism rate—the highest in the district.
The district’s biggest crisis is math: only 13.9% of 7th and 8th graders are proficient, and proficiency drops from 29.7% in 5th grade to 19.8% in 6th grade, signaling a difficult middle school transition. Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide emergency at 37.6% (vs. 22.3% statewide), affecting more than 1 in 3 students. At Colleton County High, English 2 proficiency is relatively strong at 73.38%, but U.S. History (34.92%) and English 1 (44.22%) lag far behind. The graduation rate is 76.8% (vs. 86.7% statewide), and the dropout rate is double the state average. While spending is above state norms and student-teacher ratios are favorable (11.8:1 to 16.4:1), outcomes remain poor—except at Bells, which proves improvement is possible with targeted interventions.
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