Where will your kid go when Fort Mill opens two new schools? Here’s the latest plan

The difficult, detailed process of figuring out where Fort Mill students will go to school next fall isn’t over yet. Parents still have time to make their voices heard.

Some of those parents voiced concerns Tuesday night when the Fort Mill School Board heard a district recommendation for new elementary and middle school attendance lines. New lines are needed with the opening of Flint Hill Elementary School next year and Flint Hill Middle School in 2026.

Here are five items to note on the school attendance line conversation:

Here’s how to see the latest attendance line map

The school district has an interactive map and static maps for the public to review. Both are online at fortmillschools.org .

The new maps are the district’s recommendation. They’re slightly different from ones presented two weeks ago by a consultant out of Ohio. They recombined the Manors at Lake Ridge and some Baxter properties with parts of those neighborhoods that split off from the rest in the prior maps.

The map revision follows 450 emails from district parents in the past two weeks. They represent 11 neighborhoods from across the district, although more came from neighborhoods on the northern end.

Parents who still want to provide input should email communications@fortmillschools.org .

Parents worry school swaps will harm students

Students in the Reserve at Gold Hill neighborhood face a fifth rezoning since 2006, having already been through an “overwhelming series of disruptions in their educational journeys,” said parent Brittany Gildner.

Parent Laura Edwards can see from her home the Pleasant Knoll schools her child could walk to, she said, but her Habersham neighborhood was zoned in the initial maps for other schools. Marissa Robbins in Knightsbridge wondered how the district can meet maximum rider time limits on buses or other traffic measures the new zoning could impact.

Parents on Tuesday linked school zone changes to increased stress and decreased social or emotional well-being. They also offered numerous traffic concerns.

The school board doesn’t like drawing attendance lines

Board chairwoman Kristy Spears called redrawing lines the “absolute least favorite activity that anyone ever does as a board member.” It’s not easier now than it was the first time the district had to do it in 1994 with the opening of Gold Hill Elementary School, said Superintendent Chuck Epps.

“It worked out,” said Epps, who was the first principal at Gold Hill Elementary. “It was challenging. But it was a big, traumatic thing for the community.”

Because of the public concerns it stirs up, the district opts to do it only when a new school opens to “go through the pain at once,” said district spokesman Joe Burke. The district has four schools under enrollment freezes that the new lines should alleviate.

Board members expect to hear complaints from parents impacted by new lines.

The final lines will be based on student distribution in schools, keeping neighborhoods together, transportation, planned neighborhood growth and similar factors.

“It’s a challenging exercise,” Epps said. “The final verdict that the board votes on is going to have some pros and cons. It’s always this way.”

Safety plans are ongoing for the new schools

Filling the two Flint Hill schools has been contentious for an issue outside the district’s control.

The neighboring Silfab Solar manufacturing site has been a hot topic all year, with residents stating the company will store dangerous chemicals and the company stating its operations are safe. Silfab hasn’t started production yet.

The school district learned Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency approved emergency management plans for Silfab that don’t require any mandatory evacuations at the Flint Hill schools, Burke said. York County emergency management and the school district will evaluate plans next.

“Even in worst-case scenario for what they do on that site, there is no mandatory evacuation area that encompasses our schools,” Burke said.

First responders to any emergency at the Silfab site could call for evacuations given whatever incident might happen, he said. The school district has emergency response plans for each of its schools and will have one for the Flint Hill facilities too, Burke said.

A final decision will come on election night

The school board’s final call on the attendance lines will come Nov. 5.

That’s election night across the country, and three of the seven school board seats in Fort Mill are up for election. All three board members whose seats are up for election are in the six-candidate field listed on the ballot.

Board members say they hear parents, but that they also have to make difficult decisions on what’s best for all students and families in the district. Spears pointed to recent school report card listings that show Fort Mill routinely leads the state across multiple test score or other rankings.

“No matter which school the students go to,” Spears said, “we know that they’re going to get a great experience because all of our schools are fantastic.”