SC school bonds: Lancaster, Chester plans defeated, while York’s is approved
Lancaster County and Chester County voters chose not to approve massive school bonds, unofficial election results show.
Almost 60% of voters picked “no” on the school bond in Lancaster County, with all precincts reporting. Results won’t be official until they’re certified later this week. The bond would’ve built new Indian Land schools and renovate facilities elsewhere. The five northernmost precincts supported the bond and everything farther south opposed it, among posted results.
The Lancaster County School District asked voters to approve what may be a state record $588 million school bond.
The proposal included a new high school and elementary school in Indian Land. Two more new elementary schools would consolidate four facilities in Lancaster, Kershaw and Heath Springs. The bond included renovations and upgrades throughout the district.
The South Carolina School Boards Association tracks referendum results back to 1978.
Only two votes put more money to schools than the one voters saw on Election Day in Lancaster County. Neither of them were true bond votes. Each was a sales tax to fund schools.
The Lancaster school bond was debated in numerous school district and community forums. Groups like Vote Yes Lancaster School Bond and Lancaster Vote No School Bond formed online.
Support came from parents concerned with school overcrowding, particularly in Indian Land. Opposition focused on the high price, the amount of resources devoted solely to the county’s panhandle and the need for a new high school.
More than than half of the registered voters in Lancaster County cast ballots before Tuesday. More than 38,000 early and absentee ballots make up 54% of all voters. York County had 53% of its registered voters participate early. Chester County was at 45%.
York School District bond
The York School District asked voters for $90 million to pay for a new middle school, expansion and renovation of district facilities. The plan included the conversion of the district’s alternative learning school, York One Academy, into an early childhood learning center.
More than 64% of the votes in York supported the bond, with all precincts reported.
Chester County School District bond
The Chester County School District asked for $227 million to replace Chester and Lewisville high schools with new facilities. The bond also included money to upgrade classrooms, security, gym and fine arts space.
Like the even larger amount in Lancaster County, the bond request in Chester County is higher than any approved school bond amount on record in the Rock Hill region. A $226 million bond approved by Fort Mill voters in 2015 was the highest heading into Election Day.
Chester County voters did see the only one larger, when they turned down a $263 million bond two years ago.
About 54% of votes were against the school bond once all precincts reported.
Historic school bond vote results
Coming into election day, six school districts across the three-county Rock Hill region had a 71% passage rate for 38 bonds all-time.
Lancaster County (67%) and Chester County (17%) fell below that mark. York (80%) passed bonds at a higher rate.
The Lancaster County bond Tuesday was more than twice the amount of all three of its prior referendum questions combined. Voters turned down a $30 million school bond in 1991 and a $37 million bond in 1999.
The school district went the other way in 2016. That’s when 74% of voters approved a $199 million bond for a new high school in Indian Land, an elementary school and other upgrades.
York approved four bonds from 1985 to 2007, combining for $119 million. Voters there voted against a $69 million bond in 2003.
Chester County last passed a bond in 1996.
Since 1989 there were five failed bonds, including three in the last six years. Before Tuesday’s decision, Chester County voters turned down $482 million worth of bonds while passing only the $19 million vote almost three decades ago.
This is a developing story.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 8:29 PM.
