R1 scraps original learning center plans to comply with zoning. It still needs a permit
The Richland 1 school board voted Tuesday to change the scope of the $31 million Vince Ford Early Learning Center after state education officials raised questions about the ages of children to be served there.
While initial plans said the center would serve children as young as infants, it will now be a school for students in kindergarten through second grade. The state Education Department denied a permit for the building last month, saying it couldn’t be considered a school building if it served children that young.
The board approved the change in a 5-2 vote. Board chair Aaron Bishop and board members Cheryl Harris, Angela Clyburn, Jamie Devine and Tamika Myers vote in favor of the change. Board members Barbara Weston and Robert Lominack voted against it.
The initial proposal for the 71,000-square-foot center on Rawlinson and Caughman roads in Lower Richland envisioned offering a full-day, full-year program for 312 students as young as 6 weeks old up to 5 years old. It was designed to fill a need for child care in the community, and address population growth in the area, the district said.
The new age range of the Vince Ford Early Learning Center means the property would comply current zoning, Bob Grant, the district’s chief operations officer explained. The center also does not need to be licensed as a child care center by the state Department of Social Services.
However, it will still require a permit from the Department of Education.
After the district submitted its initial plans for a center to the Education Department, Deputy State Superintendent John Tyler informed Richland 1 Superintendent Craig Witherspoon that the center could not be considered a public school building.
The Department of Education, therefore, did not have the authority to issue a permit.
But Richland 1 had already begun construction without a permit — the district broke ground In Lower Richland last February, and construction began October, the district said. After the state education department’s December letter, construction still continued.
According to state law, construction, improvement or renovation of public school buildings must be approved by the state Education Department before building begins.
Richland 1 officials acknowledged Tuesday the district began construction before receiving a permit. Grant told the board that construction was started after the Education Department indicated it would issue a permit.
The permit never came.
When asked for a reaction to the school board’s vote on Tuesday night, the S.C. Education Department declined to comment.
Last Friday, Witherspoon halted construction of the project. Each day the site sits untouched costs the district nearly $3,000 per day, Grant said.
On Monday, state Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver requested a formal state Inspector General’s investigation into the district.
“According to reports in The State newspaper, the District now plans to seek to modify their stated purpose for the building yet again in order to try to obtain a school building permit from the Department,” Weaver wrote in a letter to the state Office of the Inspector General on Monday. “This proposed modification is insufficient to address the questions that must be answered regarding the District’s intent and activities to date.”
The work stoppage and intent to redesign, Weaver said, may have resulted in the loss of “substantial public funds.”
“The referral of a matter to your office for investigation is a high bar to cross and one that requires credible evidence of potential malfeasance,” Weaver wrote. “I believe this situation rises to that threshold.”
Inspector General Brian Lampkin has initiated an investigation, he told The State. A report could take several months.
This story was originally published January 24, 2024 at 11:10 AM.
