Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I have referenced the potential drum beat to consolidate Richland 1 and 2. Looks like the drum majors are assembling to take the field... US Rep Clyburns words ....Consolidating Richland One and Richland Two school districts may create more efficiency and more effectiveness, according to Clyburn.
One thing that the powers that be will have to be mindful of is... IF.. you consolidate the districts and redraw school boundaries/zones.. what does that look like. If done correctly you can get kids out of failing schools and into higher performing ones and closing/redeveloping or making special schools out of the ones where they are being transferred from. I think one of the drivers behind consolidation is tax money, followed by growth and development. The areas to watch.> Northern Richland County and North Columbia. The City of Columbia has been gradually improving with the areas lagging being North Columbia. The primary area of interest is in the Eau Claire section of North Columbia in between Farrow Road- I-20, downtown, and the Broad River. In the county... Farrow Road, I-20, Broad River and the Fairfield County line along North Main, Monticello, and Fairfield Roads. The X factor in both areas .....SCHOOLS
I can see them dividing the far north sections of North Richland between Westwood and Keenan and even the rest of the Eau Claire HS Zone going to Keenan and the existing Eau Claire HS becoming a fine arts or District wide speciality school. I can see them also carving out most of Northern Richland away from Gibbs Middle and Alcorn and given that to current R2 schools and making them more so city schools and taking Earlewood, Elmwood, etc away from St. Andrews Middle and putting it with Gibbs which is somewhat closer. Same for Forest Heights Elementary zone which is huge for a Elementary schoo.l They will likely lose most of their zone to Richland 2 schools in those far reaches.
At any rate lots of options to do alot of good things and balance growth, access to good schools, equity, etc etc. if done right. Lowering the tax burden and providing better schools would be a win win for the county from a residential and commercial stand point.
Last edited by Woodlands; 11-06-2023 at 08:52 AM..
So I have referenced the potential drum beat to consolidate Richland 1 and 2. Looks like the drum majors are assembling to take the field... US Rep Clyburns words ....Consolidating Richland One and Richland Two school districts may create more efficiency and more effectiveness, according to Clyburn.
One thing that the powers that be will have to be mindful of is... IF.. you consolidate the districts and redraw school boundaries/zones.. what does that look like. If done correctly you can get kids out of failing schools and into higher performing ones and closing/redeveloping or making special schools out of the ones where they are being transferred from. I think one of the drivers behind consolidation is tax money, followed by growth and development. The areas to watch.> Northern Richland County and North Columbia. The City of Columbia has been gradually improving with the areas lagging being North Columbia. The primary area of interest is in the Eau Claire section of North Columbia in between Farrow Road- I-20, downtown, and the Broad River. In the county... Farrow Road, I-20, Broad River and the Fairfield County line along North Main, Monticello, and Fairfield Roads. The X factor in both areas .....SCHOOLS
I can see them dividing the far north sections of North Richland between Westwood and Keenan and even the rest of the Eau Claire HS Zone going to Keenan and the existing Eau Claire HS becoming a fine arts or District wide speciality school. I can see them also carving out most of Northern Richland away from Gibbs Middle and Alcorn and given that to current R2 schools and making them more so city schools and taking Earlewood, Elmwood, etc away from St. Andrews Middle and putting it with Gibbs which is somewhat closer. Same for Forest Heights Elementary zone which is huge for a Elementary schoo.l They will likely lose most of their zone to Richland 2 schools in those far reaches.
At any rate lots of options to do alot of good things and balance growth, access to good schools, equity, etc etc. if done right. Lowering the tax burden and providing better schools would be a win win for the county from a residential and commercial stand point.
I've never understood why counties have multiple school districts. Can someone explain this to me? Is this a Jim Crow legacy that was never unwound?
Even if it makes some sense, for some reason, to split larger counties' schools into multiple districts, why exactly would low populated counties like Anderson, Greenwood, Barnwell, Laurens, Dillon, and even York have multiple subdivisions? And why does Spartanburg have 7?
The wild thing to me is that the entire state of California only has 12 districts total, with LA being the only that's split in two. SC isn't flush with cash, so this feels like a huge funding suck.
I've never understood why counties have multiple school districts. Can someone explain this to me? Is this a Jim Crow legacy that was never unwound?
Even if it makes some sense, for some reason, to split larger counties' schools into multiple districts, why exactly would low populated counties like Anderson, Greenwood, Barnwell, Laurens, Dillon, and even York have multiple subdivisions? And why does Spartanburg have 7?
The wild thing to me is that the entire state of California only has 12 districts total, with LA being the only that's split in two. SC isn't flush with cash, so this feels like a huge funding suck.
Yep. SC has too many remnants of its post-Reconstruction government in place which gave state legislators authority over many local affairs. Home rule was implemented in the 70s but only extended to counties and cities, exempting school districts. Just like with our excessively restrictive annexation laws, a provincialism that's a throwback to darker days still prevails and it's typically at odds with the greater good. Same goes for higher education and our lack of a board of regents that could make things more efficient across the board. CHE has no real authority and if they do something to upset any of the individual schools, all it takes is one call to their state senator for them to back off.
But hey, at least it's not like it was in 1940 when there were 1,742 school districts statewide.
Yep. SC has too many remnants of its post-Reconstruction government in place which gave state legislators authority over many local affairs. Home rule was implemented in the 70s but only extended to counties and cities, exempting school districts. Just like with our excessively restrictive annexation laws, a provincialism that's a throwback to darker days still prevails and it's typically at odds with the greater good. Same goes for higher education and our lack of a board of regents that could make things more efficient across the board. CHE has no real authority and if they do something to upset any of the individual schools, all it takes is one call to their state senator for them to back off.
But hey, at least it's not like it was in 1940 when there were 1,742 school districts statewide.
Wow.. that is crazy.. but you are right.. There are some very rural districts that have more than one school districts along with like one elementary one middle and one high school in each. The level of bureaucracy and tax burden on what are often already poor school districts is insane. To your point, I can see how it was created and likely rural white flight followed by many blacks leaving for more opportunities as well left these legacy systems behind.
On the political side, its interesting that Congressman Clyburn was asked/offered his opinion on this matter. On the one hand he seems to nod that efficiencies via consolidation should be explored. It certainly happened in his hometown of Sumter, SC when Dist #2 and #17( not sure why there was a 17 unless there were 15 districts in between at some point?). I am sure its not lost that he is one if not the State's top ranking Democrats and African American speaking about a County School District that tends to be the same. He also speaks on the fact that race may be playing a role (from the investigation side) and that many of the powers that be in both Districts are African American. This may reflect back on what you outlined above since he lived through that era. He seems to be signaling to those same leaders where he stands on the matter (not opposed to consolidation) publicly so now they can take his thoughts under advisement from the political standpoint.
This is just an annexation in the Eau Claire area on the bluffs of the Broad River. Will be a rather large subdivision if built out at 121 acres. It is also near the Sunset Drive Shopping Center which will be converted into market rate apartments. Glad to see new development coming to this section of the city hopefully it will encourage/support new retail in the area.
For those of you that like to crunch numbers.. Here is the population and demographic data for Richland One Schools.. Seems like many are under populated.. but I guess that is subject to knowing what the ideal/target enrollment numbers/capacity are for each school..
Just focusing on the High Schools... Eau Claire (627) CA Johnson (365) are the smallest. Columbia High (666)-interesting number, Keenan (725) Dreher (1150) , AC Flora (1352) and LR (1243) . Again, not knowing target enrollment demographic policy/practice.. to me it seems easy to move to close EC and CAJ and move those students into Keenan, Dreher, or AC Flora. Keenan would seem to have the most capacity to take the most of the EC students given its location and suburban campus location with additional land for expansion. CAJ could easily split between Dreher and Flora. You could send some EC kids to Columbia High.. but there is something about sending kids "out of the city" to Cola High, which seems a little far especially since you have to go over the river. Those EC kids that live well north of I-20 would go to Westwood or Blythewood. Make EC and CAJ speciality schools. I know the alumni may not like it but I wouldnt advocate closing and getting rid of them entirely. This is based on the premise that Richland One and Two are consolidated and the zone lines redrawn shift parts of Northern Richland County into the old District Two. But hey.. that's why I dont get the big bucks...LOL.. At any rate we shall see.
This is just an annexation in the Eau Claire area on the bluffs of the Broad River. Will be a rather large subdivision if built out at 121 acres. It is also near the Sunset Drive Shopping Center which will be converted into market rate apartments. Glad to see new development coming to this section of the city hopefully it will encourage/support new retail in the area.
that area was the spot I proposed like 16 years ago for Columbia to build a Little Tokyo. I was a naive 15 year old when I thought of that.
I assume that you wanted something that was very dense in that area? At any rate, if they do anything like Laurel Hill in Earlewood it should be wildly popular.. The topography in that area.. I believe will lend itself to a decent developme nt. It is not directly on the river and overlooks the RR tracks but still could be nice.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
