$31 million early learning center no longer named for longtime R1 board member. Here’s why
The $31 million early learning center that Richland 1 has slated for Caughman Road in Lower Richland will no longer bear the name of longtime Columbia leader Vince Ford.
School board members voted unanimously Tuesday night to remove his name out of respect for his family and his memory.
“Mr. Ford’s legacy has been dragged through the mud,” outgoing board member Cheryl Harris said as she made the motion.
Board member Jamie Devine said that it doesn’t mean Richland 1 is walking away from the project. But he said removing Ford’s name would be helpful as the district looks for resolution.
“Brother Ford was a great man. A community man. A giant in this community,” Devine said. “I just hate to see his name and legacy be tarnished because of a permit that was not issued.”
A community leader in more ways than one, Ford had spent nearly 25 years on the Richland 1 school board as an influential member and chairman after joining it in 1992. A Columbia native, Ford was a pillar in the local medical and business worlds as senior vice president of Prisma Health and board member of his alma mater, Benedict College. He was a 2018 inductee into the Richland 1 Hall of Fame.
At the time of Ford’s death, Richland 1 board chair Aaron Bishop told The State that after knowing Ford for more than three decades, he was more than a role model — he was “everything.”
Ford died after a brief illness in December 2022, and the board soon named its proposed early learning center after him.
The district’s efforts to build the center in Lower Richland have been heavily criticized by state and county officials. They claim the district didn’t get the proper permits before beginning construction on the center.
The state Department of Education refused to issue a permit for the center in December 2023. Because the building was intended to serve children as young as infants, one official wrote, it could not be considered a school. But construction continued.
Richland County officials also said Richland 1 did not obtain the proper permits before beginning construction and issued a stop work order on Jan. 19. That day, the district announced that it would stop construction.
The controversy led to an investigation by the state Inspector General, which condemned the district’s work on the center and its procurement practices. Richland 1 had broken state law and wasted taxpayer money, the Inspector General said.
Weeks after the July report, state education Superintendent Ellen Weaver placed Richland 1 on “fiscal caution,” the second most severe level of concern by her department. The district was required to submit a recovery plan. But the state Education Department rejected the plan last month and ordered another audit.
“This project was started (with) good intentions for the community, for the children and for future needs of our young people in this district. Somehow this has turned into a battle with misplaced agendas,” Devine said. “I can hope we can come together and be committed to this school and fulfilling the promise of building this building for the next generation.”
