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Kershaw County School District wants a zoning change at Lugoff-Elgin High School. Here's why

The goal is to enhance cell service at the busiest school in the district in case of emergencies.

KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — The Kershaw County School District has requested a zoning change at Lugoff-Elgin High School for a cell tower to be installed. 

“It’s a safety and security issue that's been going on since I was the principal at Lugoff-Elgin Middle School back in the early 2000s,” said Billy Smith, Chief Operations Officer for Kershaw County School District. 

Smith says the back side of Lugoff-Elgin High School will be the site of a new cell tower.

“Yes, we have radios but only a handful of people have emergency radios. Yes, we have phones on teachers' desks, but not all emergencies happen right near teachers' desks. So, every possible means of communication that we could have would do nothing but benefit in reacting and reaction time to any type of emergency” Smith said.

Smith says the cell tower is long overdue for the school as it has the most students of any school in the district.

“If our cell phones don’t work, which they don't, and it's sporadic is being optimistic ... cell phone service there on that campus, which is a large campus, which has a middle school, our L.E. High annex, and our L.E. High School,” Smith said.  

The district says the 195-foot tower won’t have any blinking red lights.

“We've been looking at probably 10-12 sites on that 103 acres that we have that would be the best place, the least intrusive. And so we are actually gonna put it between Richardson Boulevard and the back of the school and the bus rider circle,” Smith said. 

The rezoning request for this cell tower has passed the first reading and is on the agenda for the October 10 County Council meeting. 

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