LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Lancaster County School Board leaders continuing to move forward with developing plans for a potential bond referendum in 2024. The plan could include new schools and improvements throughout the district.
CN2’s Renee O’Neil attending the board’s recent meeting as an election date is now tentatively set for voters, even though the exact amount of the bond is still not locked in.
It’s on every corner. Growth in The Panhandle. Melvin Stroble who is on the board for the
Lancaster County School District says, “Unless you are living under a rock in Lancaster County, I believe everyone realizes that the number of students have outpaced our classrooms. We are now adding other mobile units to Harrisburg, Indian Land Elementary, the Intermediate and the middle school.”
That’s why he is serving as School Board Vice Chair and Facilitator of the bond subcommittee. He says with all of the people coming into Indian Land, adding more schools – he believes needs to happen to keep up with the growth. Adding they will be at capacity in the next 5 to 6 years.
The Bond Subcommittee getting approval at Tuesday’s board meeting to move forward with a special election date for a potential bond referendum on March 26, 2024. The projects that could be in the bond are still in the preliminary planning stages, but adds those projects include constructing new schools. He says, “New schools in the Indian Land area, a new school in Lancaster County area, a new gym facility in the AJ area, enhancements in the extracurricular programs in Buford. My concerns are even though we’ve identified some of the major capital improvements I don’t want to overlook some of the minor concerns or the ones we just don’t know”.
School Board members were also tasked at with coming up with two people from their district who would be a part of a Facility Needs Committee. Stroble says as far as a potential dollar amount on the bond, that will be announced in the fall as they wait to hear feedback from the community.
The last time a school bond referendum passed was in 2016 for $199 million dollars.
Stroble says he is aware of some frustrations that some projects in that bond were not completed, but he says they were all relatively minor in the big scheme of things.
He explains some money had to be diverted to the Indian Land High School project because of rock removal and the hefty price tag to do that. He wants community members to hold the board accountable when it comes to this new potential bond, by making sure all needs are met throughout the county.
