FORT MILL, S.C. — After a month of critical research, presentations and meetings, the Fort Mill school board has passed a vote to rezone district lines.
That means a total of 1,088 high schoolers will be moved to a new school come August.
A map shows exactly what student will attend which school — some students attending Fort Mill High will not move to Nation Ford High. Students from both of those schools will be moved to the district’s newest high school expected to open next year, Catawba Ridge.
Joe Burke, a spokesman for the district, said the decision was based on the threat of overcrowded classrooms.
“One of the big issues we have is the high population at Fort Mill High School, so we really had to look at options that would allow us to get that under control,” Burke said.
The option is not sitting well with families in the Gold Hill Road corridor, including Kristen Sloboda. She says this school change will be the fourth time the district has moved her oldest son to a new school in the last three years.
“He was pretty upset about it, pretty emotional,” Sloboda said.
Sloboda’s son is freshman and standout out on the swim team at Fort Mill High.
He recently was promoted to varsity but with the new rezoning rules, he’ll be attending his school rival, Nation’s Ford, come August.
“He has said to me, I don’t want to swim with Na Fo,” Sloboda said. “I can’t compete against the team I’m supposed to be a part of.”
According to the district, the new district lines will not impact upcoming seniors. They’ll graduate from the schools they’ve attended all four years.
Starting next year, the board will begin discussing new attendance lines for the district’s elementary and middle schools.
