These LR5 schools could close or move, depending on bond referendum
In the coming years, the Lexington-Richland 5 school district is likely to see big changes to attendance zones, and some current schools could be closed or moved.
Because of growth in the Chapin-Irmo area, those kinds of changes are inevitable, Superintendent Akil Ross told an online community forum on Tuesday. How the changes look could be decided by the district’s voters.
Ross said improvements to the district are needed because 10 of 24 district facilities were rated in fair-to-poor condition by a 2019 study, including all three main high schools and six of eight schools in the Irmo attendance area.
Schools will also require adjustments to take on growing student populations. The Chapin High attendance zone has grown from 25% of the district’s student population in 2013 to more than 38% today. Chapin High itself is at 90% capacity, while nearby Lake Murray Elementary is at 93%.
“At what point do we get worried about occupancy levels?” Ross asked parents on Tuesday. “How full is too full?”
The school board will consider its options for moving forward, Ross said. Without addressing any of the district’s facility needs, Ross projects Lexington-Richland 5 will have to rezone 13 elementary schools in the coming years to handle growing enrollment. If a bond of $340 million is approved, all of the issues could be addressed, but would require a property tax rate increase. A smaller $150 million bond would mean current property tax rates would stay at or below current levels. Voters would have to approve the bond issue in a November referendum either way.
Part of the plan would pay for renovations to the east wing of Irmo High School and the Chapin High School football stadium, and about $4.7 million to combat a mold problem in the school district office on Dutch Fork Road.
But the proposal presented Tuesday would also bring changes to CrossRoads Intermediate School near Irmo middle and high schools on St. Andrews Road. The proposal would create sixth grade academies at Dutch Fork and Irmo middle schools, and use the CrossRoads site to host Nursery Road Elementary while $21.7 million of renovations are done to the elementary school campus in the Walden neighborhood off Bush River Road.
Once work at Nursery Road is done, Harbison West Elementary School will then permanently move to the CrossRoads site, while the district sells Harbison West’s current Crossbow Drive campus about 2 miles away for an estimated $3 million.
The attendance zone for Harbison West would not change, although it would become “Harbison Way West,” Ross said.
After the first phase of referendum projects are done, the district will see other changes too. Ballentine Elementary School will change from the Dutch Fork attendance area to Chapin, with Ballentine students living in the Dutch Fork area moved to other schools.
Fifth grade would move into elementary schools from Chapin Intermediate. The Chapin area would also add another middle school, with Chapin Intermediate becoming the new Chapin Middle School, fed by Piney Woods and Chapin elementaries. Meanwhile, Chapin Middle School would become Spring Hill Middle School, fed by Ballentine and Lake Murray elementaries.
If enrollment at Chapin High School continues to grow, the new Spring Hill Middle School could feed into Spring Hill High, potentially changing that high school’s magnet status, Ross said.
“This allows us us to balance high capacity and manage growth,” Ross said, although he said his preference would be to keep Spring Hill High as a district-wide magnet school.
Without a new bond, the district would “have to essentially rezone from Piney Woods to Seven Oaks” to accommodate changes to the student population, Ross said. That would include closing the existing Dutch Fork Elementary School, which would host the alternative program housed at Spring Hill High School. Harbison West would then move to the Dutch Fork attendance zone.
All of the options will be presented to the Lexington-Richland 5 school board on Monday. If the board opts for one of the options, it would go to the voters in November.
Ross said it’s important for district residents to express their opinions now, because the board will have to decide what options are presented to voters in November.
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