BARNWELL COUNTY, S.C. (WFXG) - BIG CHANGES ON THE WAY IN BARNWELL COUNTY SURROUNDING SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION.

HOWEVER, QUESTIONS REMAIN FOLLOWING A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TUESDAY THAT DIDN’T OUTLINE PLANS FOR THAT CONSOLIDATION.

THE BLACKVILLE-HILDA AND WILLISTON-ELKO DISTRICTS CONSOLIDATED TWO YEARS AGO.

NOW, THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA WANTS THEM TO MERGE WITH BARNWELL’S DISTRICT.

CONSOLIDATION CAN BE A GOOD THING, IT MEANS MORE RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS. BUT, THE CONCERN IS THE LOCATION. SOME STUDENTS WILL HAVE TO TRAVEL 20 MILES TO GET TO SCHOOL.

“We should look more into a centrally located school, it’s 21.7 miles from the furthest corner of my district to Barnwell High School campus" District 3 Barnwell Concilman, Don Harper says. "Now, why would you put a school 21.7 miles from the furthest reaches of the county, when there’s much more centrally located areas that we do have.”

HARPER SAYS, THREE OF THE PROPOSED SCHOOL LOCATIONS ARE IN BARNWELL, WHILE ONLY ONE IS A NEUTRAL SITE.

THE POTENTIAL IMPACT REACHING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM. “That will have an affect on our 1% sales tax and our 2% hospitality tax because that foot traffic, them going to the store, purchasing gas, eating in our restaurants, purchasing items from other stores, that will no longer be there,” Blackville Councilwoman Martha Ann Pernell says.

FORMER SCHOOL MEMBERS SAY CONSOLIDATION IS NEEDED.

WILLISTON-ELKO AND BLACKVILLE-HILDA EACH HAVE UNDER 200 STUDENTS, WHICH LIMITS COURSE OPPORTUNITIES. A COUNTY WIDE SCHOOL AND CAREER CENTER WOULD MEAN MORE RESOURCES BUT, THEY WANT A NEUTRAL LOCATION THAT ALLOWS  EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE.

“70% of our youth come from households of poverty and if the board doesn’t take that into consideration, miles, cost, distance, lack of resources, all impact what that child’s youth and education will look like and that hinders them in being able to pursue additional opportunities, post-high school,” Ferlecia Cuthbertson says.

THE CONCERNED CITIZENS GROUP IS PLANNING A NEW MEETING, WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON THAT date.

IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS, THE SCHOOL BOARD URGES YOU TO EMAIL THEM.

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