Lexington-Richland 5 to draw district lines for new school. Where will your kids go?
A Midlands school district is scaling down plans to rezone schools for next year and instead will focus on redirecting students to a new elementary school. But that still means some families will see their attendance zones changed.
Consultants for Lexington-Richland 5 previously presented plans for a comprehensive rezoning to the school board in October, in response to overcrowding caused by rapid growth in the Chapin and Irmo areas.
But board members have also heard from parents and students who worried about being moved from one school to another, leaving behind friends or even siblings still attending their old campus.
Last week, consultants from Milone & MacBroom came back to present a revised plan — focusing instead on moving students into the new Piney Woods Elementary School under construction on Amicks Ferry Road, which is slated to open in the fall of 2021.
Depending on what board members ultimately approve, the plan will decide if elementary students next year will attend Piney Woods, Chapin Elementary or Lake Murray Elementary. Shifting a large number of students from Lake Murray would be difficult since the latter draws from the whole east side of the Chapin area, so consultants recommend a “double shift” of students from Chapin Elementary to Piney Woods and from Lake Murray to Chapin.
Parents can compare the competing zoning maps on the school district’s website and find out how any changes will affect them.
Chapin has seen steady growth in recent years due to its proximity to both Lake Murray and Interstate 26. In 2019, the Lexington-Richland 5 school board put a temporary freeze on enrollment at both Chapin Elementary and Lake Murray Elementary due to concerns about overcrowding.
As of 2019, there were 1,210 students in the kindergarten through fourth grade age range in the Lake Murray attendance area, and another 676 in the Chapin Elementary zone. If fifth graders are included, the totals rise to 1,471 and 816.
Fifth graders in the attendance area currently attend Chapin Intermediate, but consultants say adding fifth grade to Piney Woods could help keep its attendance area smaller and minimize disruption to the other two elementary schools.
The consulting firm’s figures project a 2.4% increase in enrollment across Lexington-Richland 5 in the next five years, with a possible increase of as much as 7.3% by the 2029-30 school year.
In a statement from the school district, board Chairwoman Jan Hammond said the board still intends to approve a revised zoning plan for the entire district at a later date.
“We still have before us, the entire redistricting plan, so we want the public to know that we’re not kicking that down the road... but we know immediately we need Piney Woods,” Hammond said. “It doesn’t mean we have taken off the table the big picture. No one needs to worry. That will be forthcoming.”
The Lexington-Richland 5 school board will take up the proposal for new school zones at its Jan. 25 meeting.
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