Lexington-Richland School District 5 looks to see major changes to their district’s schools and zoning, with help, officials hope, from a proposed $240 million bond referendum. The money, if approved by voters in November, would pay for a new elementary school among other major improvements.

On Feb. 8, Lexington-Richland School District 5 held a virtual town hall during which Superintendent Akil Ross shared the district's five-year plan, which will chart its approach as it prepares for its future and looks to improve.

“We work today for what we will need tomorrow,” he said.

The district faces some significant challenges in satisfying the needs of students, teachers and staff, student’s families and the community. Ross detailed obstacles that include the condition of school buildings in the Dutch Fork and Irmo attendance areas, student enrollment and capacity issues in Chapin attendance areas, and the need to modernize the district's instructional programs.

Attendance areas have shifted since 2013, he explained, with Chapin previously being the lowest attendance area with 25.5% of in-person enrollment and the Dutch Fork and Irmo areas having 38.07% and 36.42%, respectively. As of 2023, the Chapin attendance area has the majority with 39.1% of in-person enrollment, while the Dutch Fork and Irmo attendance areas account for 29.7% and 31.2%, respectively.

Ross detailed that a majority of district facilities will need improvements in the next half-decade, with some of those needs being even more pressing.

The superintendent reported grades from a facilities conditions assessment conducted by McMillan Pazden Smith. 10 district schools scored a two, meaning they are worn from use and nearing the end of their life cycle and have about two or three years before they need to be replaced or improved. 10 other schools received a three, meaning they aren’t in new condition and have some issues worth reporting, with Ross saying these schools have three to six years until replacement or improvement should prove necessary. Only five schools within the district received a four, meaning no issues were reported and the schools should have nearly a decade until any significant improvements should prove necessary.

The assessment focused on district buildings’ structure, interiors, mechanical controls and the health, safety and security of each site.

Ross talked about plans to modernize instructional programs by potentially bringing in an artificial intelligence program at Dutch Fork High School, adding a fine arts center to Chapin High School and a small business incubator to Irmo High School.

To accommodate this growth, many district schools will see changes in name or zoning, while building a new elementary school building is also on the table, to be funded by a proposed $240 million bond referendum that will go before district voters in November.

Ross detailed that four schools within the district are at 95% capacity or higher, with five being between 90-94% capacity, six resting in the 76-89% range and only six schools hitting 75% capacity or lower. He added that the goal is to have schools be at that 75% mark.

Unsurprisingly, the schools reaching their maximum capacity are predominantly in the Chapin attendance area.

Ross stated that the current Chapin attendance area has six zoned schools, while the Dutch Fork area has seven and the Irmo area has eight. Ross claimed that part of their goal to provide relief is to move one zoned school from the Dutch Fork area and have it serve the Chapin area.

The school that would be rezoned would be Ballentine Elementary, with a majority of the current students getting rezoned to H.E. Corley, River Springs and Oak Point Elementary schools.

“We would now have four schools to serve the elementary students of the Chapin attendance zone,” Ross said. “Where we have three schools serving the shape of the attendance zone, we will have four elementary schools. That space will be created because the families of Ballentine will be rezoned.”

The Chapin Intermediate site will also see a name change, going to Chapin Middle School which would be fed by Chapin and Piney Woods elementaries. The current Chapin Middle will be turned into Spring Hill Middle and will be fed by Lake Murray and Ballentine, once rezoned, elementaries. 

Ross stated that the Chapin and Spring Hill middle schools would feed into Chapin High.

When it comes to the Dutch Fork attendance area, Ross proposed building a new building to house Dutch Fork Elementary. This school along with River Springs and Oak Point elementaries will feed into Dutch Fork Middle and ultimately feed to Dutch Fork High School.

H.E. Corley elementary will feed into Cross Roads Middle, which will be changing from an intermediate school to a middle school to accommodate more grades. Cross Roads Middle is also fed by Leaphart and Nursery Road elementaries and feeds into both Dutch Fork and Irmo High.

Irmo Middle school will be fed by Irmo, Harbison West and Seven Oaks elementaries ultimately feeding into Irmo High School.

“We are solving the elementary school issue by moving the Ballantine building to serve the Chapin students,” Ross said. “We're serving the middle school growth issues by creating two middle schools in the Chapin area and five across the district. That leaves us with the high school issue.”

He said Chapin High also needs relief, adding that Dutch Fork can help. He said they can remove the Academy for Success out of Spring Hill High, with that wing being dedicated to addressing the increasing number of students coming from Chapin and Spring Hill Middle.

This is where building the aforementioned new elementary comes in, as the current Dutch Fork Elementary building would be repurposed as an education center housing district programs such as the Academy for Success, the adult education program, and the F.I.V.E. virtual education program. 

“That is the oldest continually used building in the district since 1953,” Ross said. “And it is a building with a great history and a great tradition.”

Ross emphasized that the only new building that the district would see is the proposed relocation of Dutch Fork Elementary, reading that the move will allow for the schools to meet student needs and operate efficiently.

How much of this is done will depend on how the referendum fairs should it appear before voters.

If the referendum gets voted down, the district would only be able to address facilities in a truly dire state, Ross said, of which it currently has none, with the overcrowding issues having to be solved purely by shifting attendance zoning.