$585M bond would include a new Indian Land high school. But a vital questions remains

Lancaster County voters could have a half-billion dollar decision that would buy a new high school in Indian Land. The question is, would folks south of S.C. 5 vote for it?

The latest discussion on a countywide school bond referendum involves more than half of the funding going to the geographically small but population heavy panhandle. It would be the biggest school bond total in Lancaster County.

The Lancaster County School Board passed a resolution Friday to move forward with a bond question it would put to voters Nov. 5. The project list and costs are preliminary, but the school board outlined a $585 million referendum.

It includes, by area:

▪ $321.6 million for Indian Land

A $225 million high school on the northern part of the panhandle would serve 2,000 students. That’s the same capacity as the Indian Land High School which opened in 2021. A new elementary school for 1,200 students would cost $93 million.

The existing high school would get $1.6 million in sports upgrades (baseball and softball storage, track and field restrooms). The area would get $2 million is security upgrades.

▪ $128.3 million for Lancaster

A new 1,200-student elementary school would cost $93 million. North Elementary School could then convert to a career programming and technology center at $15 million. The district would spent $9.3 million for cafeteria, media center, science lab and other upgrades at Lancaster High School. Then the district would use another $6 million for safety upgrades and $5 million for renovations at South Middle School.

▪ $95 million for Kershaw

A new elementary school for 1,000 students would cost $74 million. Andrew Jackson High School would get a new gym and other upgrades at $18 million, with another $3 million in the area for safety improvements.

▪ $16.7 million for Buford

Buford High School would have science lab and sports field — particularly baseball — upgrades. Buford Middle School would see a new front entrance and money toward its band room. Security upgrades would cover each school in the area.

Will southern Lancaster County support the bond?

Board member Courtney Green had an immediate response to the proposed list on Friday: “Buford won’t vote for it without a new middle school.”

Earlier versions showed the possibility of a new middle school for 500 students. Green said her Buford community, and likely others south of S.C. 5 that separates the panhandle from the rest of the county, would have a hard time approving a more than half-billion-dollar bond when most of that money goes to Indian Land.

People will ask why Indian Land should get another high school, she said. “They just got one,” Green said. “Why was it not built for more than 2,000 students?”

Several schools in the Lancaster area aren’t getting much, said board member Casey Cato. Voters there may not be enthused about so much attention in Indian Land.

“I taught at Brooklyn Springs,” Cato said. “We’ve added on and added on.”

More rural areas in southern Lancaster County, especially outside the city of Lancaster, don’t have anywhere near the population density the panhandle does. That means there are far more potential voters in the Indian Land area. Still, the school board wants a referendum the entire county can support.

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Indian Land growth means more schools

Board member Melvin Stroble hears the concern from rural areas, but can’t ignore the numbers.

“Where you see new schools being identified, it is where you’re seeing growth,” Stroble said. “The growth in Indian Land far exceeded the projections.”

Two decades ago, Indian Land High School sports competed in the smallest classification South Carolina has. Next year the school will move to 5A, the state’s largest. This year there are about 100 more eighth-graders in Indian Land than seniors, meaning if no one else moves in or out, the high school still would grow by that amount next year.

Even the new high school opened three years ago was planned for 1,200 students, then 1,600 and eventually 1,800 students. Because the construction bid came in lower than expected the district bumped capacity to 2,000 students.

It’s projected by 2032 that Indian Land will have 3,600 high school students, according to the district.

“Where do we put the kids?” Stroble said. “I hear the concern. But we cannot continue to operate in a vacuum or believing we’re immune to what the county is doing.”

High schools also take longer to design and build than lower level schools. If plans started today for a new high school, it wouldn’t open until 2028.

Board member Margaret Gamble said schools perform best at certain enrollment sizes, and foregoing a new high school in Indian Land would create problems for that area. “We don’t want 4,000 (students) by any means,” Gamble said.

Lancaster looks to general election school bond vote

Even if this bond passes as presented, the district likely will need another one within a decade, Stroble said.

Property for new schools or most anything else costs much more in Indian Land today than it did a decade or more ago. Board members say they need to look at new areas primed for growth — Edgewater and Roselyn in Lancaster primarily — to plan ahead.

“In the past we haven’t looked at growth, to purchase land,” said board Chairman Brad Small.

School bond votes often happen with only the one decision on a ballot. A consultant in Lancaster County talked to the board about the potential impact of holding a school bond vote with a general election.

Any general election increases turnout. A presidential election bumps it even higher. The possibility of a rematch this fall between the current and most recent presidents, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, could mean large numbers of people who don’t show up at the voting booth thinking about school bonds.

While there’s a concern many such people will vote against a bond due to the tax increase, Small believes there are benefits to targeting the general election. Holding it a month or two earlier would cost more money. It could feel like an attempt to insulate the school vote from the highest turnout of county voters.

Putting the vote on the general election gives the school district further incentive to make sure a package serves the whole county, an could instill confidence the board wants to listen to residents.

“This is another way to build back that trust,” Small said.