McCORMICK, S.C. (AP) - A school in rural South Carolina that has spent recent years trying to get at-risk teens back on the right track has been changed into a special governor’s school focusing on agriculture and modern farming.
Gov. Henry McMaster visited the John de la Howe School in McCormick on Tuesday for a ceremony marking the school’s new focus, The Greenwood Index-Journal reported.
John de la Howe is the state’s third governor’s school, joining the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville and the Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics in Hartsville.
“This will be a place for high-schoolers to live, work and go into the future,” McMaster said.
The John de la Howe School’s transformation started in 2014 when an investigation found the school was spending double the amount per student it should. The school lost its accreditation because teachers weren’t certified and it wasn’t providing support for children with disabilities.
Lawmakers created an advisory committee that decided the school was better off changing its focus to high school students interested in careers in agriculture.
The rebranded school opened in August for tenth through twelfth graders. It is now known as The South Carolina Governor’s School for Agriculture at John de la Howe.
School president Tim Keown said the school’s namesake would likely appreciate the change. De la Howe was a physician who founded the school in 1797 to teach both religion and agriculture to 12 poor boys and 12 poor girls. The state took over the school about 100 years ago.
“I really feel like we’re honoring John de la Howe,” Keown said.
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