electrician in Clover, SC

Summer will end sooner next year for Clover students. More, longer breaks will make up the difference. Teachers will get more time as students, on select days, will head home earlier.

Those changes highlight a new calendar adopted Monday night by the Clover School District.

The district turned to a modified year-round calendar to address an issue in Clover and neighboring school districts for years. Districts have wanted to start school earlier than state law allows.

A 2006 law sets a uniform start date for public schools in South Carolina. It can’t come before the third Monday in August unless schools operate on a year-round modified calendar.

Next year, school will start on Aug. 8 in Clover. The last day of school and graduation will come May 30, 2024. In addition to typical Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks, the district will have two “intercession” breaks on Oct. 9-13 next year and Feb. 19-23 of 2024.

The district also will have four early release dates. Students will get out of school two hours early on those days to allow time for teacher planning. All Fridays, those dates are Sept. 1 and Nov. 17 of next year, and Feb. 9 and April 26, 2024.

The calendar changes come with considerable community and staff input.

A district survey generated more than 3,500 responses. About 2,500 of those responses were parents, the remainder district employees.

About 1,700 overall responses — nearly half — picked the chosen calendar from three options. Fewer than 170 responses listed that calendar as the worst option.

The survey found 78% support the intercession breaks, compared to 11% who disagree. Among listed concerns within that smaller group were the disruption to learning, childcare availability, impact on band or athletic teams and a summer that’s too short.

About 71% of responses favor the early release dates, something that already is utilized this year in Fort Mill schools. About 12% of responses disagree with early release. Childcare was the main concern.

Superintendent Sheila Quinn said childcare is a concern, and she met with principals to address the issue for parents who can’t accommodate the two hour difference.

“The early release days are two hours early,” Quinn said. “The principals all assured me that they would have childcare available in their school. We’re going to have to do that for staff children anyway.”

School districts in the region have stated in recent months that time for teachers to plan is critical, and that concern led to changes like early release dates in Fort Mill and now Clover.

“We just felt very strongly that the early release was important to our staff,” Quinn said. “It was the number one thing our teachers asked for, is time.”

The district also swapped a professional development day for a teacher work day to allow more classroom planning time. Quinn said now that the new calendar is approved, information will come in January on calendar plans for the following school year.

Neighbors say they have been for two years now but that is causing trouble for the people living in the area.

WBTV's South Carolina reporter Morgan Newell talked to the neighbors and reached out to the homeowners to get some answers.

CLOVER, S.C. (WBTV) - Rats, snakes and roaches. That is what one neighborhood in the Town of Clover has been dealing with for the last two years.

They say these pests are coming from two abandoned houses in their neighborhood, but they cannot seem to get the homeowner to do anything about it.

A house on Stanton and a house on Park in Clover are both abandoned. Neighbors say they have been for two years now but that is causing trouble for the people living in the area.

”It’s just not what we want for our neighborhood,” says Williams Jefferis, whose house is between the two abandoned homes.

Neighbors say these two houses in Clover have sat empty for two years now and it is the exact reason why the houses are causing headaches for the neighborhood.

”We’re at wit’s end. We’re trying to make out neighborhood better,” says Jefferis.

Jefferis’ next-door neighbor Jeff Mansir also lives close to both abandoned houses and has been having the same problems.

They have been dealing with strangers entering the unlocked homes and are nervous that squatters will start to use the homes as a place to live. The latest problem is roaches in their homes. They both say it started when the nearby houses were abandoned. The two are having to use their own money to get exterminators to help get rid of the problem. However, they say it comes back quickly after.

”It’s been a struggle. We can’t afford an exterminator. I have two kids. One of them, he doesn’t want to have friends over because we have the bugs,” says Mansir.

”I can deal with the rats and the snake on occasion we see but the roaches we’re having a hard time with,” says Jefferis.

WBTV checked in with the Town of Clover to find out what is done to help the situation. The building inspector says the town has fined the landowners and is already in the process of finding them again a second time under its nuisance ordinance. Jefferis and Mansir agree and tell Newell the town of Clover has exhausted all efforts to rectify the situation, but it is really on the landowners to make it right.

”I realize the town is doing everything they can but we just want some accountability from the landowner,” says Mansir.

York County records show Charles and Shawn Carr own the properties. Newell reached out to their lawyer who told me there was no comment at this time. So the waiting game continues to see if something, at this point anything, could be done to help this situation.

“She doesn’t have to live here. Both Jeff and I work pretty hard for a living and I think it’s wrong that we have to put up with it,” says Jefferis. “To get rid of these two houses would be a blessing for all of us here.”

The Town of Clover says it has a court date scheduled in a few weeks. That is part of the fining process.

Copyright 2022 WBTV. All rights reserved.

York County Sheriff arrested two students for communicating threats to each other on social media.

CLOVER, S.C. (WBTV) - You can see a lot online and some of it is far removed from the truth.

WBTV is digging deeper tonight into a situation around Clover High School in South Carolina after a rumor made the rounds across social media in the Clover community.

The district says it all started when a video showing an incident in a boy’s bathroom started going around with the words Clover High School superimposed on the video.

District officials say the bathroom in that video was not Clover High School and the students were not Clover School district students. We found out the rumors mixed two very separate stories. The district says parents did the right thing and that when they saw something, this time a potential incident at the high school, they said something to the administration.

”Involve us and come to us and communicate with us. That’s the best line and best way to be proactive,” says spokesperson Bryan Dillon.

The district investigated. Spokesperson Bryan Dillon says administrators searched the school to find out if any areas matched the video. WBTV also found out that administration looped in law enforcement and spoke with students who shared the video.

”At all three layers they found no evidence that this happened at Clover High School,” says Dillon.

I asked the district why it is important to investigate even if the situation doesn’t seem likely in the first place.

”Take the information we receive from parents and treat it as if it is accurate and investigate it thoroughly. And through investigation we can find when something is inaccurate as we did in this case,” he explains.

There was another incident that could have thrown fuel on this rumor fire. York County Sheriff arrested two students for communicating threats to each other on social media. This came after a fight that happened off campus Friday night. By then, Dillon says the investigation into the video was complete.

”We will go through the steps to verify whether something is accurate or not. Just simply taking the word of social media, there are layers to that. Verify things. Take the steps and give the accurate information,” he says.

While the video did not come from this district, further investigation is going on to find out where it did come from

Copyright 2022 WBTV. All rights reserved.

Clover High School principal Rod Ruth is the 2023 South Carolina Secondary Principal of the Year.

The South Carolina Association of School Administrators named Ruth to the award. Fellow Catawba region principal Jamal Sanders at Great Falls High School in Chester County joined Ruth in the list of three finalists statewide.

Beth Phibbs, executive director of the state association of school administrators, recognized Ruth for offering personalized opportunities for students and helping Clover High to its highest academic achievement and student engagement metrics.

“He is an exceptional leader who demonstrates a never-ending commitment to the success of every student,” Phibbs said in the award announcement.

Sheila Quinn, superintendent of the Clover district, said Ruth is energetic, strategic and fiercely focused on students.

“Rod Ruth exemplifies all of the qualities you want to see in a high school principal,” Quinn said.

Ruth now will represent South Carolina in the National Association of Secondary School Principals competition for National Principal of the Year.

Ruth learned about the win Monday at a surprise event at Clover High, surrounded by family and the school’s senior class. Ruth took over at Clover in 2015. Since, the school earned an excellent state report card rating, scored a 96% graduation rate, been named an AP Honor Roll School and been recognized as a Special Olympics Banner Unified Champion School.

Statewide test score data released this fall shows Clover at or near the top across a variety of high school level metrics. Clover was top three statewide in end of course testing for Algebra 1, English 2 and Biology 1.

Ruth serves on advisory and other boards with community organizations like the Olde English Consortium, Catawba Regional Education Center, All On Board Coalition and South Carolina High School League. Ruth is the 5A vice president for SCHSL.

Prior to Clover High, Ruth served as principal at York Middle School and Moore Intermediate School in Florence. Ruth was assistant principal at Oakridge Middle School in the Clover district and Southside Middle School in Florence. Ruth’s seven years as classroom teacher and coach at Lake City High School include the 2007 Teacher of the Year award there.

Ruth is a Francis Marion University, University of South Carolina and Winthrop University graduate. Ruth is working now toward a doctorate in education systems improvement science from Clemson University.

The state school administrator association has more than 5,000 members. The group works on state and national level issues to support school leaders.

This story was originally published December 6, 2022 12:50 PM.

Clover voters will have the bond referendum for the $156 million project on their ballots this November.

CLOVER, S.C. — The Clover School District could be getting a new high school if voters approve the bond referendum that will be on the ballot this election.

It's the district's second attempt at asking taxpayers to help cover the costs for the project.

Students and school officials are pushing for a new school due to overcrowding at the existing middle and high schools.

"It’s just hard,” Eighth grader William Naves said when describing how he navigates the busy hallways.

Clover High School senior Angel Featherson said the packed classrooms are affecting her learning.

"We want to get to school on time, and we want the personalized learning that we deserve, and the personalized tutoring that we deserve, but we cannot do so if our schools are overcrowded,” said Featherson.

The $156 million bond referendum would cover construction of a new high school on Daimler Blvd, which is 6.5 miles from Clover High School.

Superintendent Sheila Quinn said the new school, if approved, would open in 2026.

Enrollment predictions show, "the Clover School District will be out of room for new students at middle and high school levels in three years’ time,” according to Quinn.

Money for the proposed school would come from residents' property taxes. The district says that if a home is valued at $300,000, then the homeowner will pay an extra $312 annually if the bond referendum is passed.

"Vote no" signs are all over the Clover area. Some voters told WCNC Charlotte off camera that they don’t want higher taxes. One person questioned whether the money would be spent responsibly.

A similar bond referendum failed in last year's election but Quinn hopes this version has a chance.

"It is simply for a high school and it’s really for the shell of a high school because we're contributing the funds for the furniture, the fixtures, and the equipment," said Quinn.

She added that the district will then use its own funds to convert Clover High’s ninth grade campus into another middle school.