Critics question Allendale County Schools spending as test scores lag

Allendale County families are still waiting for a return on years of state control and high spending. Critics say the district is spending between $20,500 and $24,650 per pupil while Allendale-Fairfax High School remains stuck at a Below Average overall rating of 41 points, with graduation rate, college and career readiness, and high school student success all trailing.

The district is also unusually small. SC School Report Cards show Allendale County Schools enrolled 974 students in 2022-23, a scale that makes every staffing choice, administrative dollar and classroom decision easier to track. The district has been under direct state governance since June 19, 2017, when State Superintendent Molly Spearman declared a state of emergency and the South Carolina Department of Education took control after what it said were repeated efforts to work with the local board.

The state said Spearman and Dr. Walt Tobin held complete decision-making authority. The goals were straightforward: improve academic achievement, raise college and career readiness, stabilize leadership and strengthen fiscal accountability. State officials also said all federal and state funds were to be directed first toward student support and toward teacher and leader professional development.

Yet the results have not matched the spending. The district’s 2022-23 report-card text says the department provided technical assistance that year, including additional financial support for facilities, a school transformation coach at the high school and support from the Office of School Transformation. Cognia’s diagnostic review gave the district an IEQ score of 313.39 out of 400 and described Allendale County as being on a positive continuous improvement trajectory. Even so, Allendale-Fairfax High School’s 2023-24 report card still listed Graduation Rate as Below Average, College and Career Readiness as Below Average and High School Student Success as Unsatisfactory.

South Carolina’s accountability system adds another layer of pressure. SC School Report Cards rate schools against the Profile of the SC Graduate, use a minimum n-size of 20 students for calculations and can dock a school five points if fewer than 95% of eligible students test. In a district this small, those rules can magnify both gains and failures.

The stakes are especially high in Allendale County, where the population has fallen from 8,039 in the 2020 Census to an estimated 7,551 in 2024 and 7,355 in 2025. Median household income was $32,328 in the 2024 American Community Survey, and 17.4% of residents were under age 18 in the 2025 estimate. The county’s shrinking tax base and persistent poverty leave fewer margins for error, which is why residents are still asking whether the district’s money is reaching classrooms, or disappearing into administration and repeated intervention.