Lake Wylie High attendance plan to be released in August. What to know
Clover School District officials this week announced a first draft of a high school assignment plan will be released Aug. 25.
The plan will determine if students will attend Lake Wylie High, which will become the second high school in the Clover School District in fall 2026.
The board will decide whether to further adjust proposed lines and vote to approve the final plan on Monday, Sept. 22, according to Clover School District Public Information Officer Stephanie Knott. There are three in-person and one online forum scheduled, where families of students can attend and ask questions or express concerns about the proposed plan.
During this week’s board’s meeting, Rod Ruth, chief student services and secondary education officer, presented updates on Lake Wylie High’s operations and proposed plans. Ruth supervises both the middle and high schools in the district.
The pros and cons of Lake Wylie High starting up with grades 9-10 or 9-11 was one of the main points of discussion for the board
The school district currently plans to start with grades 9-11, according to Knott.
Here is what students and families need to know about Lake Wylie High.
Athletics at Lake Wylie High
If opened as a 9-11 school, Lake Wylie High will compete at a 4A varsity level. The 2025-2026 academic year will be a realignment year for the high school’s league.
If opened as a 9-10 school, Lake Wylie High would start off competing at a junior varsity level.
Regardless of the level of competition, the addition of a second high school will bring more students the opportunity to compete in athletics.
Knott used an example of a school with 3,000 students. If half were boys, only 15 out of 1,500 could play on the basketball team. With the opening of Lake Wylie High, the number of students able to participate in school athletics will double.
“There are just more opportunities for students in terms of clubs, sports and other kinds of activities, and opportunities, of course, in a new school, to be a part of that process, to make it their own, create new traditions, and that can be very special as well,” Knott said.
Parking and transportation
One benefit discussed during the board’s meeting was the availability of parking for students when Lake Wylie High opens. If the school opens as a 9-11, students in the 10th grade will have more access to parking spots.
At Clover High School, the senior class gets priority for parking, leaving 10th grade students with limited space as overcrowding continues. With Lake Wylie High opening up, it will provide students with more opportunities.
Bus transportation will be provided as per usual to all Clover School District students.
“Each year, we’re adding a few buses to our fleet, and each year we are adding a few drivers to our staff so that we don’t have to buy all the buses at one time, and we don’t have to hire the drivers all at one time,” said Knott. “ Slowly, we’re increasing our capacity to be able to provide that bus transportation for the three new schools.”
The other two upcoming schools are Liberty Hill Elementary and Roosevelt Middle School.
Harship requests
Students in the Clover area will not have a choice of if they are assigned to attend Lake Wylie High. However, they can submit a hardship request to stay at Clover High.
The hardship request will be available to families and students who may live to far away from the new high school to have easy transportation. The hardship process is primarily catered to elementary students. However, middle and high school students may still submit one.
Once students have received their assignment, it is generally final. Knott said that there are rare exceptions under the hardship policy, however typically will only be approved under extreme circumstances.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM.
