COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — After four schools within Richland School District One received unsatisfactory scores in statewide report cards, a local candidate for the general assembly is calling for immediate action. Kirkman Finlay,  Candidate for House District 75,  spoke outside of Richland One’s Administrative Building to address what he calls “failing” schools within the district. “Those ratings have just come out. We have a school superintendent whose contract was extended. I’m calling for the school board to come back into an emergency session and evaluate this new updated information, and make a plan that will address this situation,” Finlay says. The report cards issued by the SC Department of Education give measurements on academic achievement, after-school readiness, school safety, and multiple other areas. According to the report, Richland School District One has the highest number of unsatisfactory schools in the state, with three elementary schools (Edward E. Taylor Elementary School, Burton-Pack Elementary School, and Watkins-Nance Elementary School) and one high school (C.A. Johnson High School) receiving the low score. “I hope that they will make decisions that turn this school district around. If they don’t I think that the voters need to step up and turn around the school board, and if that isn’t sufficient I think the General Assembly will have to debate ways to put tighter standards around these school boards. But let me be clear, the General Assembly should be the last stop, because it is going to cause a lot of heartburn,” says Finlay, who is calling for a review of district leaders, from the superintendent down. “If this were a football coach, people would be clamoring for his removal. Why should the superintendent of a school district be different? We want everyone to have schools that work. And let me be clear about this, there are schools in Richland One that are superb. What we don’t want is for those schools to lose resources or be cannibalized,” he says. Finlay suggests stronger standards, faster compliance, transparency in classrooms, and school choice for parents as part of solutions for failing report cards. ABC Columbia’s Lee Williams spoke with Heather Bauer, current Representative for House District 75. “So the good news is that in my two years the schools have gotten marginally better. And I’m thankful for the school district for doing the work that they have, we have a long way to go. When we have such high percentages of kids not career military or college ready, that’s a concern. So we need to get money into the classrooms, pay our teachers great, to make sure every kid across Richland One has a great education,” she says. Bauer is calling Finlay’s press conference a stunt. “My initial reaction to his press conference was that he had 10 years in office to say something and do something yet he’s waiting 2 weeks before the election. Seems obvious it’s a political play,” Bauer says. According to the district’s Executive Director of Communications, Karen York, the Richland One Board of School Commissioners is holding a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday night at C.A. Johnson High School. “He asked the school board to have an emergency session. They have a school board meeting tomorrow night. So clearly you’re very out of touch when you don’t know when the next school board meeting is gonna happen,” says Bauer. ABC Columbia’s Lee Williams reached out to the district for a response on Finlay’s press conference but the district declined to comment. Local elections will take place on November 5th. Categories: Local News, News Tags: Heather Bauer, House District 75, kirkman finlay, richland school district one