CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – School board members along with district leaders met this week for a work session to talk about improvements needed within the Chester County District when it comes to the buildings, leaders say are well past their use cycle.
Its been a battle since 2018 when the district attempted to pass three separate bond referendums, all of them were turned down by voters, including the latest in May of 2022 for more than 260 million dollars.
CN2’s Renee O’Neil sat down with the district superintendent about what’s next and if another bond referendum attempt is on the horizon.
“Safety is the number one goal for any of our projects”, says Dr. Antwon Sutton.
Chester County School District Superintendent, Dr. Antwon Sutton says safety is one of the driving forces to updating and improving schools across the county.
“We recently had some incidents in our county where people have gotten on our campuses because of the layout of our facilities”, says Sutton.
Dr. Sutton and his team met with School Board members this week for a work session focused on capital improvement options across the district.
“The goal is also to look at the options that we presented. And at the work session there were other options generated, we can add them to the list. Because again, we were just brainstorming”, says Sutton.
Some of the options discussed, a new Chester County Career Center, a new Lewisville High School, or combining two area high schools by consolidating Lewisville and Great Falls High Schools and building one new high school campus, along with many other options.
Sutton adding no matter what is decided, all will come with a price tag. The district asked voters to pass bond referendums in the past but all have failed since 20-18. Sutton says its not set in stone, but a bond referendum could be an option.
Sutton says with buildings dating back to the 70’s, students and staff need up to date technology.
“They are beyond their useful life-cycle. How students learn today, that collaborative learning spaces, our facilities aren’t able to provide that”, says Sutton.
Dr. Sutton adds the next step is putting together a comprehensive survey to send out to residents to have them weigh in on what they would like to see.
You can learn more about all of the options discussed by watching the entire board work session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptfNTfpqM_g
