Hundreds, if not thousands of West Ashley families could be directly affected by an upcoming decision by the Charleston County School Board.
On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the School Board is expected to finally make a decision about the future of Stono Park Elementary, which has been a contentious issue for more than a year.
That decision could also ultimately result in a new location for Orange Grove Middle School, a county charter school currently located in a swing-space in another former elementary school.
Many in West Ashley became angered when the school district announced plans last year to simply renovate Stono Park Elementary as part of its current buildings project agenda, funded by a local sales tax initiative, instead of replacing it.
Supporters and neighbors of the school, which remains very successful at educating one of the poorest segments of the county, wanted to see a new school constructed on its current site.
Citing the need to bolster other schools, and the athletic facilities at West Ashley High School, the district said it would prefer redirect the millions saved by renovating Stono Park to other projects.
The district also pointed out that Stono Park, while doing an admirable job teaching a tough demographic, is one of the smaller, least-attended schools in the district.
Stono Park principal Michelle Simmons is glad to be out of her former, crumbling facilities. The swing-space smells better, and she said its cleaner and has been better maintained.
“We have more space; we’re not on top of each other,” says Simmons, who does not miss the former site, where it was so cramped that she had two teachers sharing the same trailer.
“The media center is practically brand new,” says Simmons, who shares the facility with yet another school, a different charter.
Many in West Ashley groused that the district recently spent tens of millions on a new Sullivan’s Island Elementary, which has an even smaller student body, numbers-wise.
The grousing, its volume and intensity, was enough earlier this year that the School Board tabled the issue until later this month.
There seems to be three options for the School Board: rebuild, renovate, or reassign. As such, Stono Park would leave their current swing-space in the former St. Andrews High School facility on Wappoo Road.
If the Board chooses either reconstruction or renovation, Stono Park would likely remain on Wappoo until 2019, according to Jeff Borowy, the district’s chief operating officer who is in charge of its building projects.
Borowy says that having been the staff liaison to the District 10 Constituent Board, which oversees some administrative duties for all the schools in West Ashley, has helped him become more keenly aware of all the issues surrounding the situation.
One of those waiting intently for the School Board to make up its mind is John Clendaniel, the principal of both Orange Grove’s elementary and middle schools.
The elementary school is currently located behind Mary Utsey Playground off Orange Grove Road in a sparkling facility the county rebuilt in its last building project push nearly a decade ago.
The school receives a per-pupil funding allotment from the state and county and runs fairly independently from the district.
After pinching pennies for several years, Clendaniel was able to purchase a former church facility on Hwy. 61 for $1.7 million, and was leading the planning process to borrow the millions to build a middle school there.
But, he said Friday, it would make more sense for everyone involved if he were allowed to take over the former St. Andrews High from the district once Stono Park moved out.
Clendaniel says that recent state education funding cuts have made building and running a new, stand-alone middle school more financially difficult.
Borowy confirmed that the district has in the past allowed charter schools to take over swing-spaces throughout the county, but says he is unable to divine the will of the School Board on this possibility.
The fight over Stono Park’s future has already resulted in one casualty: Tamara Avery resigned from the Dist. 10 Constituent Board over its decision to recommend the Board rebuild the school.
Avery was angry that her board ignored the work she’d put in on finding another solution for Stono – shifting the students to the space soon to be vacated by C.E. Williams Middle School – and voted when she was out of town.
Avery sides with the district, saying that population growth patterns further south along Savannah Highway means that schools need to shift to meet that coming need.
One way or another, Tuesday, Sept. 27 will be a big day for West Ashley.