TIMMONSVILLE, SC (WBTW) – Timmonsville residents are waiting to hear from the state superintendent’s office about their school district’s future.
The state gave Florence School District Four until Monday to fix issues with its accreditation or possibly lose it. With a decision looming on the fate of Florence Four, one thing is clear.
“I think we really need to take a look at that. Or are we just going to let the kids do nothing? Go to school and the school is not accredited. Come on, this is 2016,” said State Representative Terry Alexander.
For Alexander the issue of what to do with the district is nothing new.
“We need to look at some level of consolidating that school and bringing it to district one. This is not a new discussion. This discussion has been going on for year now,” he mentioned.
“Until we know more we are focused on the challenges that we are facing in Florence School District One,” said Florence One School Board Vice Chairman Barry Townsend.
While the Florence One School Board hasn’t discussed anything, Townsend says the logistics alone as far as overcrowding concerns in both South Florence and West Florence High School could prove to be a huge issue.
“It may be the right solution long term, I can’t say. But for everyone who is saying it is a very simple thing, it’s far from simple,” he explained.
“It’s hard to say what the right solution is. Don’t know rather it is consolidation or administratively we can lend a hand. I don’t know what the answer is, but we need to find an answer,” added fellow school board member Pat Gibson-Hye Moore.
The State Department of Education says a decision won’t be made for another several weeks.
“Where else can they go? They don’t have the tax base. They don’t have the resources. Where else can they go but to consolidate? Unless we are going to kick this can down the road three years from now, we are going to be at the same place and the kids are going to be suffering even more,” Alexander said.