Loretta Darien  
Director  
[email protected]  
Contact (803) 625-5014 

  Jloundia Johnson  
  Student Services Coordinator
  [email protected] 

The Student Services Department provides courteous and supportive assistance to students, parents, and school personnel that promote student achievement and facilitate personal growth.  Assistance is available in the following areas: Social Work, McKinney-Vento Homeless Education, Student Enrollment, Attendance, PowerSchool, Foster Care, Mental Health, Student Discipline Hearings, Interagency Intervention, School Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

SOCIAL WORK

 Mission:

To assist students who are experiencing problems that interferes with achieving their highest academic potential.

Goals:

• Strengthen and support the learning process by identifying, assessing and resolving barriers that interfere with a students’ academic achievement, attendance and school adjustment
• Maximize educational opportunity for all students
• Promote and enhance services that strengthen the home, school and community partnerships

Services Provided by School Social Workers:

• Arrange parent conferences, including transportation, if needed
• Assist in securing clothes, shoes and medical care for students
• Connect parents to appropriate community agencies
• Serve as a liaison between the home, school and community
• Promote regular attendance through early interventions
• Provide information on child abuse & neglect
• Consult and collaborate with school personnel
• Develop and provide training and educational programs for parents and school staff

 Homeless Education

The McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law, passed in 1987 to help people experiencing homelessness.  Part of the law protects the rights of children and youth who are homeless to go to school.  The law says that a child or youth without a fixed, regular and adequate residence is homeless.  It does not matter how long the child or youth has been without a home.  It also does not matter if the child or youth is living with a parent or is separated from parents.  Under the Act, students are homeless if they are:

• Living with a friend, relative or someone else because they lost their home or can’t afford a home;
• Staying in a motel or hotel;
• Living in an emergency or transitional shelter or a domestic violence shelter;
• Staying in a substandard housing;
• Living in a car, park, public place, abandoned building or bus or train station;
• Awaiting foster care placement;
• Living in a campground or an inadequate trailer home;
• Abandoned in a hospital;
• Living in a runaway or homeless youth shelter

Migrant children, pre-school children, and youth on their own are covered if they fit into one of these categories.  Runaway youth can be considered homeless even if their families want them to come home.  Students who live in any public or private place that is not supposed to be a regular residence is covered.

Interagency Intervention

The Interagency Intervention Team help students currently experiencing problems or those at-risk to succeed in school and complete their education.  The district collaborates with several agencies throughout the county.

School Safety and Emergency Preparedness

This primary task is the coordination of emergency preparedness and response for the entire district. The District-Wide Emergency Management Guide was developed and is annually updated by this office in consultation with local First Responder agencies and emergency planners. Support is provided to school administrators in the coordination of training and conducting of drills.