INDIAN LAND, S.C. — The Lancaster County School District's Board of Trustees met this week to discuss how it’ll keep up with growth in Indian Land, where the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance predicts the population will double in the next 30 years.
As housing developments continue to sprout up around the town, the district is looking at adding to current schools or building new ones in Indian Land, as well as maintaining schools throughout the county.
District spokesperson Bryan Vaughn said schools in Indian Land are seeing about 500 new students every school year.
“Right now we’re seeing a large number of elementary students moving to the area because there’s a lot of younger families moving to the area,” he said. “One of the things we’re looking at is where do we put our resources.”
Brandon White, a parent, moved here in August and has already noticed enough growth to warrant adding new schools.
“They’ll need it because this area is growing fast and more students are coming in,” he said. “They’ll need more schools for sure.”
Vaughn said one of the biggest needs is for a new elementary school in the Indian Land area. Indian Land Elementary Principal Sarah Deason said her school alone added 100 kids this year.
“Of course, we want our class sizes as small as they can possibly be,” she said. “But our district is very supportive of us and they’re aware of our growth, and are trying to be very proactive now.”
The board has not decided if it’ll build new schools or add to current ones, or even how it’ll fund the projects. Construction costs will also play into decisions. Lancaster County debuted a new school in Van Wyck four years ago, which at the time cost $20 million. Vaughn said today the same project would cost $35 million.
Lancaster County implemented impact fees, meaning builders must pay a fee to the school district for every new home built. Vaughn said that money is adding up, but not fast enough to fully pay for a new school.
“I really can’t speak to how it’ll be paid for -- that’ll be phase two and phase three,” he said. “One thing that we will do is explore all those options as we continue to move forward.”
Contact Indira Eskieva at ieskieva@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.