School district, Haig Point won’t budge so teachers fix the ferry problem themselves
After years of uncertain rules about on whether or not Hilton Head Island teachers could commute to school on the Haig Point ferry with Daufuskie Island students, uncertain schedules and uncertain waters, the teachers have found a solution. And it’s not from the private Haig Point community or the school district.
“We’re going to do this on our own,” Hilton Head Island Early Childhood Center teacher Ashley Hollingsworth said.
The three teachers — Hollingsworth, a special education teacher and a substitute teacher — remain prohibited from commuting on the Haig Point ferry, but starting this month Hollingsworth is paying to dock her boat at Palmetto Bay. She will captain the boat so the teachers can consistently and safely commute to work each day before and after school. Earlier this year, Haig Point said teachers could get access to the ferry if they purchased a non-property membership. At $24,377 with 180 school days a year, it would cost the teachers at least $135 a day.
Docking at Palmetto Bay is a solution to a problem that started in 2021 when a Haig Point employee told Hollingsworth she could no longer ride the ferry, which she had been doing for five years previously, according to the teacher. The dispute raised questions about whether the school district had the responsibility to transport its teachers, especially during a national teacher shortage and when students were taking the same route to school at the same time. Likewise, the responsibility of Haig Point, which holds the annual transportation contract for students, was also questioned.
Neither Haig Point nor the district has budged and the teachers remain responsible for their transportation, further clarified in March when Superintendent Frank Rodriguez signed an addendum to the contract explicitly saying that rides were for students only. Then Haig Point and the district doubled down on the decision in September 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.
Previously, Stewart and Cade Yarborough, owners of Daufuskie Adventures, captained the teachers to the mainland every other week so the women could teach on Hilton Head Island. The captain’s schedules didn’t allow them to do it every week, so the teachers would have to stay in AirBnbs or find other accommodations on off weeks. The teachers couldn’t boat themselves before because they didn’t have a place to dock.
“It is so much simpler,” Hollingsworth said of their new commute. “And here’s the irony of the whole story: we will follow the Haig Point ferry the whole way here and the whole way home.”
Hollingsworth said since their route now follows the Haig Point ferry, which has radar, their trip is safer. Her boat doesn’t have radar.
“Being their little tag-along gives us the benefit of their instruments,” Hollingsworth said. “If there’s an object in the water in front of them, they’re going to avoid it. We could too. If there’s another boat or anything.”
Hollingsworth said the other upside is that they can help their neighbors’ children get to extracurricular activities that are outside of school hours like the dance team, and they “won’t charge a dime.” It makes a difference for parents, too. For Daufuskie Island resident Laura Furfari it means her child’s special education teacher will get to school safely and her child will get the help she needs.
“There was all of this controversy surrounded with (her teacher) taking the boat, which was upsetting for the kids,” Furtari said.
This story was originally published November 12, 2023 at 1:00 AM.
