A bond referendum is an election held to give the residents of a school district the opportunity to vote on a district's request to borrow money for building new schools, renovating existing schools, and/or acquiring/improving other long-term assets.

Currently, the vote is scheduled for May 14, 2022.

The total cost of this proposed capital improvements plan is $263,000,000.

A breakdown of costs and tax impacts is available here: https://www.chester.k12.sc.us/Page/3837 

The construction manager at-risk (CMaR) will be under contract to deliver services within a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP). This is a cost-effective and time-sensitive approach. The construction manager will absorb inflation in the GMP if costs go up.  

The 2018 referendum was for the replacement of the career center only.  The 2020 referendum did not include renovations to Great Falls Elementary, major additions at Great Falls High and it did not include a new Lewisville High School. After hearing from the community, those projects were added to show that equitable facilities would exist in all three attendance zones. Those additional projects in addition to continued cost escalations resulted in the new amount of $263 million. Construction costs will continue to increase over the next several years.

After a comprehensive facilities study, architects and engineers determined that not all schools needed to be replaced. Some schools are in far better condition than others. The facilities being replaced are beyond their useful lifespan and are costly to maintain. Those schools not being replaced, are being renovated some having new learning spaces added.

The referendum is being held in May to save the taxpayers over the years. Construction costs continue to escalate, and a May passage of the referendum will allow the district to start borrowing funds at much lower interest rates, that in turn saves the taxpayer. The longer we wait, costs will continue to increase for the next several years. This also allows the district to begin construction projects much sooner to have students and staff occupy the new and renovated buildings earlier.

School Board Members and Administration are not legally allowed to raise the funds. A bond referendum is the primary method used across the entire country for districts to build and renovate schools.

8% debt capacity - Based on South Carolina’s Constitution, the District has a delegated debt capacity of 8% of the district’s assessed value, which is approximately 9,500,000 for the Chester County School District. The District Board may approve issuing short-term bonds up to that amount to fund capital projects.

Each blueprint was designed with data including current student population and trends in growth.

Each new facility has the ability to expand via additional academic wings in the event of a sudden spike in student population. We encourage everyone to review the site plans on our website at https://www.chester.k12.sc.us/Page/3837. The plans indicate how the building can be expanded on the current site.

Currently, heavy renovation costs are $250/SF and new construction costs are $300/SF.

Our current renovation costs exceed 80% of the new construction costs, not including the cost of acquiring mobile units to house students during major building renovations. 

The best value long-term is to build new as new construction has a life expectancy of 50 years.

Chester County School District understands and appreciates the pride that the Great Falls community has in its schools. The student population in Great Falls High allows for grades 6 – 12 to share the same campus. The district would not invest in extensive renovations to the Great Falls campuses to only close them in future years.

Each referendum is separate from each other. Previous referendums have no impact on new proposals for a referendum. The Vision 2026 referendum proposal is different from previous referendums.  It is important to understand that the referendum projects were compiled with community input throughout the county of what all 3 attendance areas stated they wanted to see in their communities.  The district modified the construction projects based on the need and community input. The district can only move forward with the capital improvement plan if the voters agree to the projects by voting.  The district can only propose a plan and share and educate the community on the needs for the school district.

It is the plan to use impact fees, once approved, to help offset the cost of construction.  At this time, the review is still underway, and we do not yet know what the fee per new construction will be.

This claim is false. Private citizens not employed by the school district, including family members, may participate in any activities they choose on their own time.

School district employees may not advocate for the bond referendum while on official district time or during normal working hours. According to section 8-13-1346 of the South Carolina Ethics and Reform Act of 1991, school employees are strictly prohibited from using public funds, property, or time to influence an election.

School employees have the same fundamental civic responsibilities and privileges as any other citizen outside of normal business hours.