T&D TOP 10 0f 2022/No. 2: Referendum paves way for ‘high-quality’ education

OCSD Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster said he is thankful the community has entrusted the school district to follow through on a multimillion-dollar plan to build and upgrade schools and athletics facilities, but that is not his sole focus.

“I don’t want to focus on just the referendum. It was really a comprehensive approach. The referendum, although major, was only one piece of that. When I first got here, the team sat down with a number of consultants with guidance from our board and feedback from a variety of different community representatives. We looked at everything as a whole,” Foster said.

He continued, “The referendum is huge and we’re extremely thankful that the community entrusted us to support that, but the current improvements that we began to make in painting some facilities that we know will be existing, and those facilities that were at an occupancy level that showed a little bit of sustainability was key.”

Foster said upgrades had already included:

• The installation of new security cameras and access doors at 14 schools.
• New roofs at William J. Clark and Robert E. Howard middle schools, and Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, and new athletic tracks at Bethune-Bowman, Branchville, Lake Marion and Orangeburg-Wilkinson.
• New flooring in 11 schools and windows replaced in four schools.
• Painting of the interior and exterior at 15 schools.
• 23 schools will receive LED lighting (interior and exterior), water conservation equipment, HVAC replacements and lighting controls. Foster has said that of the 2,500 HVAC units in the district, 2,006 were beyond their useful lifespan.

“Changing out the flooring in those facilities, the new windows. Those were things that we were able to do with our capital fund not only because they were required, but I think we had to at some point gain a little bit of trust in the community that we were willing to really take what we have and make the best use of those dollars. So that was the first step,” Foster said.

The superintendent said he established a five-year facilities plan that involved rotation schedules for regular maintenance and upkeep.

“Just like your home, every X amount of years you repaint. So now we can put those facilities on to make sure that we have a plan in place to not only keep them up, but also make sure that we’re putting forth the funding that we know that next year we’ll need this much. So we budget and make those things readily available,” Foster said.

He said the board then approved a performance contract that allowed the district to address its mechanical needs, including HVAC replacements and lighting.

“We had to consider all of those things in making that. Then the bond referendum was the final piece that will allow us to combine some old facilities that were just not fiscally responsible to bring up, but also to address the declining enrollment that we’ve seen in the county for the past decade,” Foster said.

He said the $190 million school construction and improvement plan will provide for a more efficient delivery of services “but will also allow for enhanced educational and instructional programs for our students.”

“That’s what the referendum will allow us to do, as well as to build facilities that can promote next-level education, bring in those facilities that are currently up to that standard and provide a high-quality education across the district,” Foster said.

Highlights of the plan include:

• The construction of a new $100 million to $110 million Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School on 95 acres at the corner of Red Bank Road and Industrial Boulevard, located near Interstate 26’s Exit 145. The district is swapping land with the county to obtain the site.

The proposal includes space for 1,600 to 1,800 students and a dedicated front entrance, gymnasium, parking and athletic fields. The district hopes to have the school finished by the 2024-25 school year.

The construction of a 900-student elementary school at the existing Holly Hill Elementary School site on Brant Avenue.

The $40-45 million Holly Hill school is to be built where the football fields and baseball fields are. The existing school would then be demolished.

The new school would serve students currently attending St. James-Gaillard Elementary, Holly Hill Elementary and Vance-Providence Elementary. Those three schools would close.

Elloree Elementary School would remain open and be renovated.

The new elementary school in Holly Hill would be built in time for the 2024-25 school year.

• Adding a middle school wing at Lake Marion’s campus. This 20-classroom addition will hold around 400 to 500 students.

It would open in August 2024 to serve students from Holly Hill-Roberts Middle and Elloree Middle.

• Combining smaller schools and closing the ones that need the most work.

Rivelon Elementary and Edisto Primary School exclusively serve early learners in prekindergarten through second grade. The underutilized schools have bordering attendance lines.

The district proposes completing minor renovations at Edisto Primary School and transitioning Rivelon students to EPS.

Roof work and flooring, painting and lighting would have to be done at Edisto Primary School. Edisto Primary has a full wing not being used.

The district hopes to have the school open in the 2023-24 school year.

• Building an additional 20-classroom wing at Clark Middle and renovating and repurposing Howard Middle for elementary learning.

The additional wing at Clark Middle would hold between 400 and 500 students.

With a proposed addition of 28,312 square feet, Clark’s campus could be home to all middle-level students throughout the central area of the county, including those within Clark’s attendance zone and students previously zoned for Howard.

Howard Middle would serve students from Whittaker, Brookdale and Mellichamp elementary schools.

Whittaker, Brookdale and Mellichamp would close under the plan. The schools are all within four miles of each other.

The work is scheduled to be done in time for the 2025-26 school year.

• Athletic and fine arts facility improvements would be made across the county, including to fields, scoreboards, baseball/softball dugouts, lighting, sound and seating. Work will be done based on needs at the various facilities.
• Vacated facilities could be used for community needs. No building will be left vacant, according to the district’s plan.
• Other schools in the district will likely see improvements as part of a proposed partnership with ABM for energy performance contracting.

“I believe the most important message I want to convey is that … this is a not a one-person task, nor one person’s opportunity to receive credit. It’s the partnership and collaboration of this entire community. I believe everybody deserves equal credit in regards to the advancement of our schools because we all have equal investment,” Foster said.

He continued, “We all are invested in children, and I believe sharing that foundational belief that children are our primary resources and those are the individuals that deserve it is the one message that I want to resonate.”

Foster has said public and private partnerships will be sought to preserve the vacated buildings, but if they are not successfully obtained, the buildings will be demolished.

“My hope is that we have community organizations that come forth and want to repurpose those facilities to fill other gaps that we have in this community. Schools can’t do it alone. I would love to see an organization that wants to convert them into a recreation center, a senior center, those areas that we know we need to make sure that we can continue to nurture those components of our community that need those services,” the superintendent said.

“Hopefully they can come forth, but, if not, the reality is we have to demo them if we can’t find a business partnership to do that. But our goal is that we can partner and repurpose those facilities,” he said.

Foster is looking ahead and not backward when it comes to preparing the district for success, a plan of which he said the referendum is a big part.

“All of this didn’t impact taxes. It wasn’t a matter of voting your wallet. The community voted their heart. It gave us an opportunity to see how they view their children and the value of our children,” he said.