Rock Hill school board at-large candidates pledge to put students first

School spending priorities, student choice and other efforts to serve students are among top issues for two candidates seeking the Rock Hill school board’s at-large seat.

Incumbent Terry Hutchinson, 57, is finishing his first four-year term in the seat. He faces a challenge from Tyrie Rowell, who is making a second bid for election after being defeated by Hutchinson four years ago.

The seat is one of two Rock Hill at-large board seats, meaning the candidates are elected by voters from across the school district. Five of the seven board members are chosen by voters within individual districts that cover a portion of the Rock Hill school enrollment area. School board elections are nonpartisan.

Hutchinson, an automotive technician at Pep Boys, said he wants to see through projects that Rock Hill schools have begun, including changes to school choice programs for language immersion, arts and more.

Rowell, 26, a 2009 South Pointe High School graduate and now an after-school enrichment program teacher with Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, said he wants to bring a more proactive presence to the board.

Rowell said school funding has been an ongoing issue, and he criticized the board’s decision to sell its Anderson Road office for $2.7 million and build a new $6.5 million office on Orange Street.

Proceeds from the district office sale and nearly $1 million from the sale of another piece of district property would go toward the cost of a new office. School officials have said available capital money would be used to pay the rest of the cost and that taxes would not be affected.

“We need to find other ways of providing funding for our students’ education, and we can’t seem to do that if we’re putting money into brand-new buidings,” Rowell said, referring to the office.

Rowell said he criticized the district in the past for having a low graduation rate, and said the district has made improvements in that area. He said there’s also a need for affordable after-school care; some parents can’t afford the Challenger program at elementary schools, he said.

Rowell said he has a passion for students and wants to make sure they don’t fall between the cracks. “I’ve seen a lot of students fall through the system,” he said, citing his 10 years of working in schools.

Hutchinson cited his experience on the board, which has embarked on a massive building and technology expansion project that is funded by a $110 million bond approved by voters in 2015.

Hutchinson, who moved to Rock Hill in 1994 from Connecticut, where he was active in volunteer fire service, said he wanted to make a difference in a new way than he had done in the past.

Hutchinson said he favors keeping property taxes at a minimum to avoid placing a burden on the business community, which now bears the burden of funding school operating costs. Under South Carolina’s property reform bill in 2006(called Act 388), owner-occupied homes do not pay property taxes for school operations.

He noted that faster growth is coming to Rock Hill in the next 10 to 15 years when the rapid growth in the Fort Mill area overflows into Rock Hill and other parts of York County.

“We’ve got a lot of projects going on in the classroom and outside the classroom,” he said. He said the shifting student population may require the district to consider balancing its demographics; the board is waiting for the results of a demographic study.

“We have to look at the long term in everything,” said Hutchinson, who also noted the board has been examining all its policies and updating them, which “is going to be a forever deal.”

The school board has approved construction for a language immersion program at Sullivan Middle School and a Montessori and inquiry program at Ebenezer Avenue Elementary. Another possible change is an expansion of the school choice arts program, based at Northside Elementary, he said.

“I am an advocate for the children,” Hutchinson said.

Rowell, a former Rock Hill school bus driver, said he’s willing to go “above and beyond” to serve the community, saying board members need to be active in the community.

“I am looking for additional programs that would help the students,” Rowell said. “As well as making sure our teachers are able to succeed in the classroom.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Rock Hill school board at-large candidates pledge to put students first."