Aiken County Public School District officials recommended creating an intermediate school for sixth-graders in Aiken area schools and rezoning attendance areas in Aiken and Graniteville to create more efficient use of facilities, prepare for anticipated growth and balance student populations.
Aiken County Public Schools representatives made the recommendations Saturday to School Board members during a work-study session at the district's headquarters.
The district based the proposals on feedback from the public during a series of town hall meetings held between Halloween and Christmas and from emails, online feedback, conversations with constituents and an electronic survey.
The public can voice their opinions about the recommendations and and offer more feedback at the next School Board meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the district office at 1000 Brookhaven Drive.
The Board will vote on the recommendations at its meeting Jan. 23.
If the Board approves the intermediate school concept, all sixth-graders in Area 1 schools in Aiken would attend a renamed school at the current Aiken Middle School beginning with the 2019-20 school year.
After the sixth grade, students who attended Aiken Elementary, J.D. Lever Elementary and North Aiken Elementary would attend Schofield Middle and then Aiken High. Students who attended Chukker Creek Elementary, East Aiken School of the Arts, Millbrook Elementary and Oakwood-Windsor Elementary would attend Kennedy Middle and then South Aiken High.
“If this recommendation is approved, we have 19 solid months to plan from beginning to end with lots of input from across the community,” said Dr. DeeDee Washington, the district's chief officer of Instruction, who made the presentation.
The district's rezoning recommendations would affect students primarily at Chukker Creek Elementary in Aiken; Byrd Elementary, Leavelle McCampbell Middle and Midland Valley High in Graniteville; Langley-Bath-Clearwater Middle in Bath; and Oakwood-Windsor Elementary in Windsor.
At the town hall meetings, the district recommended moving students from some neighborhoods east of Whiskey Road in South Aiken from Chukker Creek Elementary to East Aiken School of the Arts. The plan would allow for future growth at Chukker Creek and bring the school more in line with the district's demographic averages for free and reduced lunch students.
At Saturday's meeting, King Laurence, the district's chief officer of Administration, presented six alternatives to the proposed change based on community feedback. The alternatives are as follows:
• Students who reside south of Citadel Drive between Whiskey Road and Banks Mill Road would stay at Chukker Creek
• Students who reside south of Citadel Drive and north of a line just south of the South Meadows neighborhood would stay at Chukker Creek
• Students who reside south of Citadel Drive and north of a line just south of the South Meadows neighborhood – between Whiskey Road and Ramblewood Road – would stay at Chukker Creek
• Students who reside south of Citadel Drive between Whiskey Road and Banks Mill Road would go to Millbrook Elementary; Millbrook Students who reside north of Pine Log Road and east of Powderhouse Road, north of Mead Avenue between Whiskey Road and Two Notch Road, north of Berrie Road and west of Beaufort Street would be zoned for East Aiken School of the Arts
• Students who reside south of Citadel Drive and north of a line just south of the South Meadows neighborhood – between Whiskey Road and Banks Mill Road – would go to Millbrook Elementary instead of East Aiken School of the Arts; Millbrook Elementary students north of the South Meadows neighborhood, north of Mead Avenue between Whiskey Road and Two Notch Road, north of Berrie Road and west of Beaufort Street would be zoned for East Aiken
• Students who reside south of Citadel Drive and north of a line just south of the South Meadows neighborhood – between Whiskey Road and Ramblewood Road – would go to Millbrook instead of East Aiken; Millbrook students who reside north of South Boundary Avenue and west of Beaufort Street would be zoned for East Aiken School of the Arts.
The district recommended reassigning students who reside in the Trolley Run Station neighborhood on University Parkway in Aiken from Byrd Elementary, Leavelle McCampbell Middle and Middle Valley High in Area 3 in Graniteville to Aiken Elementary, Schofield Middle and Aiken High in Area 1 in Aiken.
The change would allow for continued growth in the Graniteville area, especially on Bettis Academy Road where Byrd and Leavelle McCampbell are located.
King said Aiken County issued building permits for 713 units in Area 3 during 2017. If the Board approves the rezoning recommendation, that number would be reduced to 598 units.
The district recommended adjusting middle school attendance lines between Leavelle McCampbell Middle and Langley-Bath-Clearwater Middle to provide additional space for growth at Leavelle McCampbell.
Under the recommendation, all students zoned for Byrd Elementary, Gloverville Elementary and a new elementary school in Area 3 at the current location of the Byrd Learning Center would attend Leavelle McCampbell Middle. All students zoned for Clearwater Elementary and Jefferson Elementary in Bath would attend Langley-Bath-Clearwater Middle.
Warrenville Elementary students who reside north of Pine Log Rod and west of Legion Road would attend Leavelle McCampbell Middle. All other Warrenville students would attend Langle-Bath-Clearwater Middle.
King said an alternative plan would allow Warrenville Elementary students who traditionally have attended Leavelle McCampbell to continue to attend the school to “respect tradition.”
King said the proposed boundaries for the new elementary school in Area 3 would include portions of the current Byrd Elementary and Warrenville Elementary zones. Gloverville Elementary would gain a portion of Byrd's zone northwest of Langley Pond, and Jefferson Elementary would gain a portion of Byrd's zone north of Sudlow Lake Road.
The district also recommended reassigning students who live along the Barnwell County line in southeast Aiken County. Elementary school students would continue to attend Oakwood-Windsor; but middle school students would attend New Ellenton Middle instead of Aiken Middle, and high school students would attend Silver Bluff High instead of Aiken High or South Aiken High.
If the Board approves the changes to the attendance lines, they would begin with the 2018-19 school year.
The reassignment would include a grandfathering provision. The provision would allow students to stay at the school they currently attend until the final grade in that building. After completing the final grade, students would move to the new school for which they are zoned.
The district would not provide transportation for students who chose to stay at their current schools.
In addition to rezoning and restructuring, district officials again outlined plans for six building projects to update facilities, increase security and plan for future growth, especially in the Graniteville and North Augusta areas.
The projects are as follows: expanded classroom and core facilities at Midland Valley High; new, more secure classrooms at Millbrook Elementary, Belvedere Elementary and Hammond Hill Elementary; and a new elementary and a new middle school between Graniteville and North Augusta off Exit 5 on I-20.
The new schools would be built on about 80 acres of donated land in the proposed Highland Springs development, which also would include residential housing, retail space, a city park, a performing arts theater and an outdoor theater.
As many as 1,500 houses could be built in Highland Springs in the next four to five years, a representative for the development said.
Article by Larry Wood, The Aiken Standard
January 7, 2018