Image by Flickr user Robert S. Donovan

(Updates at the bottom.)

Of seven schools ranked the worst in South Carolina, two were in Charleston County: Burke High and North Charleston High.

Both schools have received labels from the state as "persistently failing" and though the state Board of Education could have made a decision at a Wednesday hearing to take the schools under state management, it instead decided to leave the school under Charleston County School District leadership.

But the board stated that the district must make more efforts to trace program and teacher performance.

NBC News 2 offers a report and video, in part:

In an email sent to News 2, Jason Sakran, spokesperson for Charleston County School District says, "Although these schools are labeled as persistently failing, both schools are moving in the right direction." He also says, "North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey strongly supports the improvements being made at North Charleston High School as well as principal Grimm. Suspension rates are down, attendance rates are up and the community is taking notice."

Get the station's report here.

Update September 3: Nearly two months after Burke and North Charleston high schools faced possible state takeover for being "persistently failing", plans to turn around the schools have taken shape.

The Post and Courier has a lengthy report outlining what the steps are and how the school leaders are being incentivized (read: big bonuses for success).

You can read the paper's report here (paywall), and be sure to note the "Included Media" column with links to PDFs of the full school plans.