Fort Mill has the lowest student poverty rate in three states. Here’s how others fare
New federal data shows almost 10,000 students across York, Lancaster and Chester counties live in poverty. Yet pockets within the tri-county area have some of the lowest poverty rates in the region.
The U.S. Census Bureau released information last week from its Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program. It’s the only single-year data set for more than 3,100 counties and 13,000 school districts nationwide. The data shows a median poverty rate for school-age children at 14.5% in 2021.
In South Carolina, an 18.8% rate meant almost 155,000 students in poverty. Across the country there were more than 8.6 million students in poverty.
Student poverty levels can impact everything from student achievement in the classroom to funding for schools.
County comparison
York County has the lowest percentage of students in poverty among all 46 counties in South Carolina. The 10.8% rate represents a little more than 5,600 children. York County sits almost 2% lower than second place Lexington County.
Lancaster County is No. 8 in the state at 17.4%, or almost 2,800 students living in poverty. Chester County ranks No. 27 at 26.4%, with about 1,400 students in poverty. Despite the much lower rate of students in poverty, York County has more such students than Lancaster and Chester counties combined due to much larger total population.
York County also fares well in its Charlotte metro region.
Among Mecklenburg and counties surrounding it on either side of the state line, only Union County has a lower student poverty rate at 8.7%. Lincoln County isn’t far behind York, at 11.2%. Mecklenburg County has a 13.6% rate. Gaston County at 17.7% is the only bordering county higher than Lancaster.
Across the Carolinas, Union County is best and York County fifth for lowest student poverty rate.
School district poverty
All four York County school districts fare better than the state average for students in poverty, some of them far better.
The Fort Mill School District has the lowest poverty rate in South Carolina at 5.1%. That rate includes 931 students in poverty. Next, only Fort Jackson Schools (7.4%) in second comes in ahead of Clover School District, at 8.6%. Clover has 756 students in poverty.
The Rock Hill School District is No. 12 statewide. The 14.9% rate represents almost 3,000 students in poverty. The York School District is No. 16 at 16.7%, or 983 students in poverty.
Lancaster County School District follows next at No. 17, with almost 2,800 students in poverty for a rate of 17.2%. Chester County School District is No. 52 statewide with a 26.1% student poverty rate. That figure comes from about 1,400 students in poverty. The federal data source lists 97 school districts in South Carolina.
Fort Mill and Clover schools in particular also fare well within the Charlotte region. The Fort Mill rate is lowest among districts anywhere in the Carolinas (or Georgia). Clover and Union County Public Schools just north of Lancaster tie for fifth lowest student poverty rate in the two states. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools comes in at 13.4%.
Rock Hill and York schools fell a little behind most counties bordering Charlotte, but ahead of (for York and Clover) neighboring Gaston County.
Fort Mill schools
In the seven-state region from Tennessee and North Carolina south, and east of the Mississippi River, the Fort Mill district ranks No. 10 for the lowest rate of students in poverty. Neither state that touches South Carolina has a district with lower poverty.
Fort Mill and Clover schools in particular have turned socioeconomic leverage into two of the highest performing districts in South Carolina. Rock Hill and York schools, too, often perform better on standardized tests than the state averages. Almost mirroring the districts’ economic placement within the state.
This fall as the Fort Mill school board discussed test score rankings that perched Fort Mill or Clover at the top across a variety of grade level and subject rankings, Fort Mill superintendent Chuck Epps said it’s the teachers his district is able to hire and retain that creates success. Yet Epps pointed to the community factor, too.
“We’ve always enjoyed strong parental support,” Epps said when the board met in September. “In fact that’s what separates us out through the years from other districts.”
While it would be difficult to argue against the advantages of a well-off district, there can be challenges. Some state and federal funding mechanisms for schools rely on socioeconomic data. As the lowest poverty rate in the state, Fort Mill can miss out on extra dollars other districts might get.
At the same time, quality schools in areas like Fort Mill and Clover are major population growth drivers in those areas. A key reason why Fort Mill, Clover and now even York schools asked York County officials for help through impact fees to charge new residential construction. Education costs more as more students arrive, adding need for teachers, classroom space and more.
The new data from the census bureau isn’t the same formula used in South Carolina to determine funding. In this state, a poverty index scores districts using factors that include medical and food benefit program participation, housing and other factors. Then there are programs like free and reduced lunch participation, which may involve a student or parent notifying a school. The census data, in contrast, surveys household financial situations.
Still, there are similarities. This year’s poverty index score lists Fort Mill at a 19.6. Not counting South Carolina Governor’s School programs, Fort Mill has by far the lowest index score statewide. Clover is second in the state with a 32.1 score. The state average score is 60.6.
Joe Burke, public information officer for the Fort Mill district, said the new census numbers and district figures submitted to and used by the state aren’t easily compared. Generally, he said, issues of funding that rely on poverty or similar socioeconomic data don’t favor Fort Mill compared to other areas.
“Any time something’s calculated on that, we end up on the bottom end,” Burke said.
A practical if perhaps unusual impact of the funding system based on socioeconomic data came at the height of COVID-19. At time bitter arguments raged beginning two years ago on whether students, teachers and others involved with schools should have to wear masks as pandemic infections climbed. Some demanded the Fort Mill district require masks. Some demanded the district not require them.
As a new school year started in 2021, some districts statewide mandated masks despite state law at the time against such mandates. Epps told his school board the decision to recommend but not require masks was in part a funding one. Since Fort Mill gets far fewer federal dollars due to its low poverty rate than other districts, Epps couldn’t rationalize going against the state rule when half of his $15 million a month budget came from the state. At the time Epps said such a move could jeopardize the operation of the district.
Overall poverty rates for people under age 18 range from less than 1% to almost 73% in communities nationwide, according to separate data released by the census bureau last week. The national child poverty rate dropped from 21.2% in the previous five-year survey to 17% for the new one. The rate was still higher than a national overall poverty rate of 12.6%.
For all ages, York County is tied for No. 10 among counties in the Carolinas with a 9.7% poverty rate. Nearby Union County in North Carolina is best at 7.7%. Lancaster County has a rate of 11.8%. Chester County has a 17.3% rate.
