Barbs & Bouquets

Bouquet: Closing the achievement gap

It's not often that newspaper headlines tout the merits of school improvement around here, and we certainly wish we could have more to tout. But recent strides have been made at Shell Point and Coosa elementary school, and we're giving praise where praise is rightfully due.

Both schools closed the achievement gap on standardized testing last year — the fourth consecutive year for Shell Point Elementary and second for Coosa. The S.C. Education Oversight Committee soon will recognize the schools for making the grade. The cat was let out of the bag by superintendent Valerie Truesdale at a school board meeting Tuesday.

We're glad. In a district where schools continue to struggle with statewide testing, seeing progress year after year is promising.

The oversight committee is an independent, nonpartisan body of 18 educators, business people and elected officials that enforces the S.C. Education Accountability Act of 1998. The act established rapidly increasing standards for the state’s school system.

The committee honors schools that have improved the gap between white and minority students on the English and math sections of the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, given to students in grades three through eight. The exam is the primary tool used by the state and federal government to measure success in elementary and middle schools.

Specific scores weren’t released yet, but congratulations to the schools and their bright students.

Barb: Save our trees!

You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with oaks in Beaufort County.

The words may have been altered, but the song remains the same. At least that's what one contractor found after his company lopped limb after limb from a stand of oaks on S.C. 170 and S.C. 802.

Port Royal officials levied a $27,000 fine on a man contracted to trim trees outside the BP gas station. It turns out that the Town Council last summer began requiring that an evaluation of trees greater than 36 inches in diameter or any live oaks be administered and permitted before they can be trimmed or cut.

The measure was a direct response to criticism drawn after an individual attempted to cut down a 71-inch-wide live oak at the corner of Ninth Street and developers clear-cut 25 acres for Azalea Square. There were no penalties in place to deter the trimming.

Although the cost of replacing the trees — estimated at $158,000, is greater than the penalty, it's a start. We say increase the fines!

Bouquet: County auctions surplus on Web

Any teenager could have told Beaufort County that if it wants top dollar for its surplus goods, it should log onto to eBay and let the bidding begin. We're not chiding the county for being slow to the mark; admittedly, most of us are just getting familiar with the power of Internet auctions.

The measure comes after a year of selling off surplus county items, but wanting more bang for the buck. The county's new online auction partner, GovDeals.com, told the council it could generate 300 percent increase by selling online. Last year, the county raised $89,000 in surplus auctioning. This year, there are 30 Crown Victorias and a host of other items going up on the e-block.

The benefits are that there is no overhead costs, such as there would be for a local auction; a larger bidding pool, and more frequent actions rather than just a one-time auction event.