LEXINGTON, S.C. — Residents in Lexington are talking about a new proposed elementary school off of Corley Mill Road. It’s the last project from a bond referendum that passed back in 2018.
The school is needed due to all the growth in the area, but some residents have concerns.
Lexington School District One leaders recently entered an agreement with the land owner to start conducting studies, like environmental and transportation impact in this area, to see if they could build on the site.
Other properties have been considered over the course of the last four years, but students would have had to travel further from their homes when compared to the Corley Mill Road site.
The district said this spot would localize traffic, meaning students would live closer to their school.
"There are a number of pieces of property that are available over on Highway One and down Mineral Springs, more sites in the Oak Grove area, that area of Lexington," said Anne Marie Green, school board chair for Lexington One. "But if we build an elementary school there, we would have to -- you call it turning the dial -- where you send everybody, you shift everybody in that direction."
Residents that live nearby, like Brett Flashnick, want more transparency and more location options since the large River Bluff High School is already on the same road.
"A normal trip through that area of Corley Mill Road, which would typically take two to three minutes, during school dismissal times can take up to half an hour," Flashnick said.
He has concerns about the infrastructure.
"Trying to make an existing, very old two lane country road work to try to handle the traffic that all these new developments are going to bring in," Flashnick said.
Green also lives off of Corley Mill Road. She said this is just the start of the due diligence process, about 4-6 months total, needed before signing a contract to create a new school space for overcrowding at Midway and Meadow Glen schools. Next steps include studies, appraisals, and eventually a contract.
"The administration, the operations staff, they talk daily to folks with the town of Lexington, the county of Lexington, with the state Department of Transportation (DOT), and so they have folks there that they reach out to and say, hey, we're looking at this piece of property, is it feasible," Green said.
According to Green, work for this new elementary school has to be initiated before 2023 due to the conditions of the bond referendum.
The next opportunity for residents to voice their concerns will be at the school board meeting on April 26, 2022.
If you have questions or want to voice your concerns virtually, click here.