LAKE CITY, SC (WBTW) – The Florence School District Three school board discussed the Read to Succeed law at its meeting on Thursday.

The law states that third grade students who perform two or more grade levels below third grade must be held back. Renee Kirby is in charge of the ‘Read To Succeed’ Program in Florence School District Three.

“We identify third graders who have not met proficiency in reading in third grade,” Kirby said. “This is the first year that the state says you must retain if they don’t meet the criteria.”

Kirby said the district has had a reading camp for the past four years.

“It started four years ago with the students we were pretty sure were struggling,” she told News13. “But this is the first year that the state says you must retain if they don’t meet the criteria, and there are several criteria.”

Kirby said the students must pass the SC Ready test, and MAP test.

“They have to score a 177 or higher on MAP,” said Kirby. “They must pass the SC Ready test, and if they don’t do either one of those then they must successfully complete the summer reading camp.”

Kirby said MAP is a test given three times a year, and tests students on both reading and math to make sure the student is at the correct level for their grade. Kirby said the SC Ready test is more important for students to pass because it’s only given once a year.

“The SC Ready test is our state assessment for proficiency,” said Kirby. “That’s reading and math for third grade through eighth grade, but we also have PASS which is science and social studies.”

Kirby said the district started sending letters to parents at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. “We have chosen to send letters four times during the year,” Kirby explained. “Last year, at the end of the year, every child in the district got a letter that said ‘Your child scored X on the map, that’s equivalent to X grade level’ and so that gave them an idea of where their child was.”

Kirby said all third graders received a letter in the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year about the new law.

“In December we gave the MAP test,” said Kirby. “We did what we call DRA, which is a one-on-one test that the teacher does to check the child’s fluency and comprehension in reading,” she continued. “We sent that home, and told them where there child was, and then we gave MAP again in March.”

Kirby said the third letter sent to parents was in March after the second MAP test was given. “We’ll send another letter home after the SC Ready test in May,” she said. Kirby said the third grade students took the SC Ready test first, and the district is waiting for the results.

“As of now there are 39 [students] that are possible retention,” she said. “That could drop or that could increase depending on the test.” She said students who have the possibility of being held back will have to attend summer reading camp.

Kirby said those students would have to re-test, and show progress in order to continue on to the fourth grade. “I feel liked when children are given the opportunity to get a little bit of extra attention in the summer,” said Kirby. “And then repeating the grade level so then they get a chance to catch up, and then start out their fourth grade year a year behind, but still caught up then they’ve got a chance to catch up on grade level.”

Superintendent Laura Hickson agreed with Kirby, and said the retention is not necessarily a bad thing.

“It really sets a benchmark to ensure students are reading on grade level before they leave third grade,” Hickson said. “All the research shows if students are on grade level before they leave third grade, then they’re going to be more successful and graduate from high school.”

Kirby said she expects results from the SC Ready test in the next two weeks.