FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The new Florence School District One facilities committee met to discuss priorities and areas it will focus on.
The committee met for the second time Thursday. This comes after the school board chair Barry Townsend dissolved the previous group, saying the district needed fresh eyes on the future plans to make the best decisions for the new schools.
Earlier this month, the new committee wrote down their priorities on post-it notes.
The group tallied all of the responses, with “equality” at the top of the list.
“For any solution, every kid is just as important no matter where they live or go to school,” said Will McLeod, the facilities committee chairman. “When you begin to talk about a referendum. It obviously has to be passed by the public. You have to have a quality equitability in that to get the referendum passed.”
The group also hopes to create a plan the community can afford and still keep building needs in mind.
Highest voted priorities for the FSD1 Facilities Committee:
- Equitable across the district
- Accelerate middle school 6-8 model
- Reasonable funding options/ cost tolerance to community
- Keep priority list for building/plan for every need in schools
The board previously approved plans to build a new Southside, Williams and Savanah Grove using a pay as you go plan.
- Southside Middle School $32 Million
- Williams Middle School $32 Million
- Savannah Grove Elementary $22 Million
The new facilities chair recommended speeding up building the three schools with a millage increase.
“We could expedite the middle school program without delaying anything else. It buys us some time to continue to have discussions. It buys us some time to get new leadership,” explained McLeod.
Now the committee must decide on a new plan taxpayers may vote on.
They are considering:
- Revisit original $266 bond
- Hybrid solution: bond referendum and pay as you go
- Build one high school at a time
- Consider middle school model: pay as you go
“I hope we take a comprehensive look at the facilities program, so that we can begin to improve our academics and close the gap that our kids have,” said McLeod.
The group asked financial advisors to research how much it will cost taxpayers to speed up the pay as you go project, including maintenance and technology. The committee should have those amounts at the meeting next Thursday.
