SUMTER, S.C. — The future of RE Davis College Preparatory Academy’s athletic field has caused debate in Sumter County. In a recent school board meeting, board members brought up $400,000 in capital projects that was earmarked for the public middle school in 2018, that hasn’t been used since.
“I put four productive children through rural schools and I myself came from them,” rural Sumter resident Sarah Williams says. “I grew up in that area, so I know the area very well.”
It’s an area that is zoned for RE Davis. County Councilman Eugene Baten represents District 7, and is fighting for the school to get a sports stadium.
“It would give that community a sense of pride,” Baten explains. “They don't have home games. Why? Because they don't even have a stadium and that’s really hurting.”
In a letter to Superintendent WIlliam Wright and the school board, Baten writes, “To meet the needs of an outstanding athletic program SSD Trustees saw the need to build an athletic facility for middle school students. The lack of a football stadium had tarnished the image of the academy and disrespected parents and students. One year the academy field [sic] a football team with only thirteen players. Not only were they outperformed by middle school teams with 30 to 40 players, but they were also further humiliated because they were laughed at for having mix match football jerseys without the name of the new academy.”
In 2018, Baten says $400,000 was earmarked for building an athletic field.
“Fast forward to 2023, there is no facility,” Councilman Carlton Washington details. “Just recently we learned that there is a proposal, an effort, an idea to take the $400,000 earmark and use it in another capacity. In effect, if that happens, what we have done is lied to those kids. We've lied to those teachers. We've lied to that community and the kind of impact that has on a child is tremendous.”
Washington says this is an issue for rural schools in general.
“For rural schools to not have the appropriate facilities and city schools to have the appropriate facilities, it creates a scenario where rural people are becoming very annoyed and very upset,” Washington says.
In a school board meeting, Finance Chair Daniel Palumbo brought up the money, which he says is allotted to a “dead project.”
“In case we can’t use that money for that project, it needs to come back to the board and we need to look to see what is next on our priority list of getting things done,” Palumbo shares.
However, community members like Williams want the money to stay in the community it was meant to serve.
“It can still be used in the rural community area. It can still be used there,” Williams says. “And it should not and it will not be moved because we will be fighting for that.”
With Palumbo saying that is still an option.
“All I was trying to look for is we’re not doing our due diligence with our money that’s just sitting there. So no one is being responsible with getting these projects done. So I want to make sure that our taxpayer money is going to our children and just not sitting there. We have a half million, probably more, that is just sitting there not doing anything for our children,” Palumbo says. “So is RE Davis off the table? No it’s not. No one has even said a peep of that. We’re just asking questions of what do we need to do if it’s a dead project? Spring cleaning…”
Palumbo says the next step is going through line items in the upcoming committee meeting to make sure all allotted projects are still feasible. In the case of RE Davis, Palumbo says the committee will brainstorm ideas for that earmarked money, with Washington and Baten encouraging constituents to voice their support for keeping that for RE Davis.
“There may be stuff that we can wait on. Maybe stuff that we can’t, but if there’s a dead project, I’m not going to leave $400,000 of the taxpayer money just sitting there,” Palumbo shares. “It’s not going to happen. Our children need that money. Our children need to start using that money.”
Instead of using that money to create a whole new athletic field at RE Davis, Baten suggests upgrading the athletic facilities at the now-closed Mayewood Middle School. In the letter to the board, Baten says this is not a “dead project.”
“It is an ‘unfinished project’ that is still in demand,” Baten writes. “There is no ‘expiration date’ on doing God’s work.”