Rock Hill had the biggest school district before COVID hit. Now Fort Mill is on top
Somewhat lost in the shuffle of students during the COVID-19 era is a milestone that’s long been coming. It’s now hard to miss.
“We are officially the largest school district in York County,” Fort Mill School District superintendent Chuck Epps said earlier this month when his board met.
Fort Mill began edging closer to Rock Hill decades ago. Residential growth in Fort Mill, Tega Cay and unincorporated areas served by the district routinely ranks among the highest in the state and region. Proximity to I-77, Charlotte and the airport fuel consistent home and business additions in northeastern York County.
As of Tuesday, the Fort Mill district has 17,808 students enrolled. Rock Hill has 17,301 students.
When Fort Mill district students showed up last week, there were about 17,900 of them listed in the computer, and 17,376 showed up on the first day. Clearer enrollment numbers come after 10 days, then again at periodic marks during the school year.
Those counts are typical to any year.
Since COVID, figures have not been as clear in Fort Mill and elsewhere. Statewide there was concern at the end of the 2019-20 school year when many students went unaccounted for as schools switched to virtual learning. Last school year many districts saw a quarter or more of their enrollment switch to online education.
Most students now are back to school in person.
“We are still facing the challenges of opening school in a pandemic,” Epps said.
The superintendent visited each district school last week on opening day. He saw excitement typical for a first day. As COVID cases continue to rise in area districts and across the state, Epps is hopeful the district can maintain course.
“That’s our goal,” he said, “to keep kids in school.”
Class sizes
District assistant superintendent Marty McGinn told the school board Tuesday there are some “bubbles” across the district where class sizes are higher than in other places. It’s typical of the start of school, she said, and class sizes remain well within state standards.
“It’s not super alarming, but it’s something to watch,” McGinn said.
Most growth for school districts happens during the summer. There are then some surprises when students return, and classroom or teacher assignments can be reoriented. Gold Hill Elementary School has up to 24 students in a kindergarten class. A first grade class has up to 23, with no teaching assistant. Some other elementary schools have more than 20 to a class or have added a teacher.
There are some larger gifted and talented classes at the middle schools, McGinn said, after delay in GT identification figures from the state. There is a middle school class with 30 students, and some across the district close to that mark. The state standard is up to 35 students.
Only two typical high school classes have more than 30 students, McGinn said, again within the standard.
Besides its steep growth rate, Fort Mill has its peculiarities. By geography it’s the smallest district in South Carolina.
The South Carolina Department of Education lists enrollment figures at the 45th, 135th and 180th day of each school year. The first count from the 2019-20 school year had Rock Hill ahead of Fort Mill by 613 students. Both districts were roughly double the enrollment of Clover and triple the number for York schools. By the end of that first school year impacted by COVID, Fort Mill was within 429 students of Rock Hill.
Both districts dropped significantly over the summer of 2020. The districts combined to lose about 1,000 students, according to education department data. Still, Fort Mill pulled ahead at the 45th day with 16,883 students — 229 more than in Rock Hill. By the end of last school year Fort Mill had 472 more students than Rock Hill.
For perspective, the start of the 2012-13 school year (the earliest available at the online education department site) arrived with almost 6,500 more students in Rock Hill than Fort Mill.
The unofficial figure of 17,808 current students given Tuesday night by Epps would put the district at No. 12 among 86 public and charter school districts statewide, based on last year’s data. Many of the 46 counties in South Carolina have a single public school district. York County has four.
Led by Rock Hill and several areas on the Fort Mill side of the Catawba River, York County now ranks No. 7 in population among South Carolina counties.
