Can Daufuskie teachers take ferry to Hilton Head schools? District and Haig Point say ‘no’
On the channel between Hilton Head and Daufuskie Islands, three Beaufort County teachers sit in the 6 a.m. darkness. Their hair whips in the wind as they cruise through the Calibogue Sound, and they hold their thermoses tightly so coffee won’t spill when the boat hits an unexpected bump — or the expected one.
“This is a good day,” Hilton Head Island Early Childhood Center teacher Ashley Hollingsworth shouted over the engine roar. On a bad day, they navigate without radar as fog engulfs everything everything beyond the boat’s bow.
Making a similar journey, and at the same time, in a larger boat with radar are 15-20 Daufuskie Island students on the Haig Point ferry. The district contracts the private community ferry to take students to Hilton Head for middle and high school.
The conversation in the group of three predawn travelers turned to the ferry’s capacity. One asked “Is it full? Is it crowded?” the answer from another was an emphatic, “No.”
Hollingsworth used to ride the ferry, too, starting in 2016 until 2021 when she heard from a Haig Point employee that she wouldn’t be allowed. She said she then reached out to the school district, who confirmed.
Hilton Head Island Middle School teacher Lauren Scott was allowed to all of last year, but now she’s in the same boat as Hollingsworth and not allowed on Haig Point’s. A Haig Point representative contacted her and told her she wasn’t allowed on the first professional day of this school year.
In September, the district and Haig Point further doubled down on their decision to not allow the teachers to take the Haig Point ferry by extending the service contract for student transportation from the island by one year and increasing Haig Point’s compensation from $145,000 to $160,000 annually.
Over the past two weeks, the district declined in-person interviews with the key decision makers, instead, spokesperson Candace Bruder sent a statement saying “Haig Point homeowners are private citizens who have no obligation to subsidize the travel of non-residents.”
“We do not pay for teachers’ transportation anywhere else, so it’s an equity issue for us,” Chief Operations Officer Robert Oettings told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette in March. Teachers started raising questions that month and Superintendent Frank Rodriquez signed an addendum to the contract explicitly saying only students could ride the ferry.
Hollingsworth and Scott say it’s not an equity issue because the district told them they would be able to use the ferry when they moved to Daufuskie in 2016 and 2021 respectively. There are no open teaching positions on Daufuskie Island, but over 20 on Hilton Head Island. It isn’t feasible for teachers to ride the public county ferry because the first boat leaves at 8:30 a.m. which would be too late for the teachers to make it to school on time.
Scott said she was told by her Realtor that teachers on Daufuskie could use the Haig Point ferry, which is normally limited to the private community’s members, for free. Then, she said she double-checked with the school district that she could get a pass.
“I had asked and as far as I remember they said ‘yeah, you just have (...) to request it,’” she said. “And so I did.”
It all stopped at the beginning of this school year when she was contacted by Haig Point and told she is no longer able to ride the ferry.
Haig Point CEO Adam Martin didn’t respond to emails and call for comment, but said in an interview in March that it’s not the community’s responsibility to transport teachers.
“Where do you draw the line from a public service provider perspective? Doctors, nurses, if it’s an attorney that works for the county,” Martin said in March. “(Transporting public service providers to Hilton Head) was not asked of us in the procurement process.”
Now, Scott commutes with Hollingsworth every other week. Soon they will be joined by Krisey Moller, a certified middle school teacher with 17 years of experience, who moved to Daufuskie last year. She can’t become a full-time teacher until she has reliable transportation to Hilton Head Island. In the meantime, she is set to be a substitute teacher.
“When I moved over here and inquired about (a job) as a middle school teacher I was told by the county that there was a teacher living on Daufuskie who was given permission to ride the Haig Point ferry,” Moller said.
Either Hollingsworth’s friend, Stewart Yarborough or his son Kade drive the Hollingsworth’s family boat to Buckingham Landing where the teachers have their cars parked. They then take the last public ferry back at 4 p.m, which they sometimes miss due to traffic, leaving them stuck on the mainland, according to Hollingsworth.
The Yarboroughs are only able to captain the boat every other week, forcing Hollingsworth to stay at her apartment in Bluffton and Scott to rent an AirBnb.
“I’m separated from my husband, my home, my dog, (...) my community,” Scott said, not to mention the $375 weekly cost of the AirBnb. Both Hollingsworth and Scott say they don’t know how much longer it’s feasible for them to alternate between taking the boat and staying on the mainland.
Hollingsworth says she spends about $1,200 a month “on a teacher salary” between gas, maintenance and insurance on top of what it cost to purchase the boat.
“I just want what I was told that I could have when I first took the job and I moved here,” Scott said.
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 11:00 AM.
