Referendum question to be on ballot for November 7 election
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
On November 7, Beaufort County citizens will go to the polls and cast their votes for or against a near half million-dollar bond referendum to aid the Beaufort County School District (BCSD).
The bond referendum, which essentially gives residents of a school district the chance to vote for or against a district’s request to borrow money, requests $439 million in bonds to help deal with overcrowding in schools, bolstering security measures and modernizing outdated facilities.
Candace Bruder, spokesperson for BCSD, said this would be the largest bond referendum they have had.
The BCSD has held informational sessions hosted by Superintendent Frank Rodriguez to inform parents and voters about the November referendum.
The final session was held on Tuesday, October 24, 2023.
The Beaufort, S.C. Regional Chamber of Commerce has said in a press release on Oct. 10, that it will fully endorse the bond referendum and went on to say it believes “this referendum is a critical step toward advancing education quality, enhancing school safety and accommodating the future workforce needs of our growing community.”
On October 8, the Military Enhancement Committee also issued a press release announcing their support for the bond referendum stating that “quality schools are not only essential for the education of our children but also for the well-being and morale of our military personnel and their families.”
2019 Bond Referendum
Beaufort citizens previously voted for a $344 million referendum in 2019, which passed with about 70% of the vote and included renovations to district athletic facilities, safety and security measures, playground equipment improvements at elementary school facilities, expansions to schools to help deal with capacity issues that the schools are facing as the population continues to grow.
The funds also went to construct the new Robert Smalls Leadership Academy opened earlier this year.
Rodriguez made a promise that if the referendum in 2019 passed, he would establish a citizen led oversight committee made up of CPAs, urban planners, civil engineers and project managers.
This committee was called Citizen Led Oversight Committee (CLOC) and was established as an independent group of volunteers who monitored all referendum building projects, schedules, budgets and expenditures.
If the upcoming bond referendum passes, this same committee will be overseeing this bond referendum.
2023 Bond Referendum
There were more than 900 volunteer hours of reviewing facilities’ needs over a five-month period as the Community Project Review Committee (CPRC) 2.0 visited facilities county-wide to assess them and decide what needed to be addressed.
Work on the current referendum began in December 2022, according to a presentation by Rodriguez.
Originally, the committee sought to replace Hilton Head Island High School and Lady’s Island Middle School, purchase land for future schools, expand the career and technical education opportunities, improve safety and security, build a new elementary school in Bluffton, replace HVACs, build a gym for Riverview Charter School and establish a technology warehouse imaging center all without increasing the millage.
Rodriguez took their recommendations combined with the Facility Condition Assessment, school district needs, two cost estimators and financial advisor input and he compiled a 2023 Referendum Project List.
In June 2023, Rodriguez spoke to the BCSD Board of Education and provided them with a breakdown of the proposed funding before they voted to submit the referendum in November.
Most of the money will go to rebuild Hilton Head High School ($167.4 million), replace Lady’s Island Middle School ($65 million) and build a new elementary school in Bluffton ($56.6 million).
Career and technical education renovations and additions cost $36.4 million, a new gym for Riverview Charter School will cost $19.2 million and a new Early Childcare Center in Bluffton is $29.7 million.
The rest of the money will go toward additional safety and security enhancements, parking lots, drives, sidewalks, furniture, HVAC replacements, constructing a kitchen for Right Choices Alternative Program and building a technology warehouse imaging center.
According to Rodriguez, if the referendum passes, they could be moving forward with some of these projects as early as spring 2024, while some aspects would be implemented in coming years.
The question
The official ballot question is as follows:
Shall the Board of Education of the School District of Beaufort County, South Carolina (the “School District”) be empowered to issue, at one time or from time to time, general obligation bonds of the School District, in a principal amount of not exceeding $439,035,000, the proceeds of which shall be used to finance the costs (including architectural, engineering, legal and related fees) of the following:
- Re-building and equipping Hilton Head Island High School including renovation, construction of additional space and demolition of a portion of existing facility;
- Constructing and equipping a new replacement school for Lady’s Island Middle School on its current location including demolition of the existing facility;
- Constructing and equipping a new PreK-5 elementary school in Bluffton;
- Constructing and equipping a new early childhood center in Bluffton, including space for support services;
- Constructing and equipping additional space at the Riverview Charter School including a new gymnasium;
- Constructing and equipping Career and Technology Education Renovations and Additions
- Beaufort High School – Renovations and Addition
- Bluffton High School – Addition
- May River High School – Renovations and Addition;
- Constructing and equipping a Technology and Warehouse Imaging Center;
- Constructing and equipping a kitchen to be used for the Right Choices Alternative Program and the District Educational Services Center;
- Constructing, acquiring and installing HVAC equipment at multiple school facilities;
- Acquiring and installing furniture at multiple school facilities;
- Constructing improvements to parking lots/driveways/sidewalks at multiple school facilities; and
- Constructing, acquiring, and installing additional safety and security enhancements at multiple school facilities?
If the voter wishes to vote in favor of the question, fill in the oval next to “In favor of the question/yes;” if the voter wishes to vote against the question, fill in the oval next to the words, “Opposed to the question/no.”
- In favor of the question/yes
- Opposed to the question/no
If passed, taxpayers would not see a change in the amount they pay because of the millage rate, which is the number of mills imposed on taxpayers to meet the district’s budget.
One mill is equal to 1/1000 of a dollar, according to the Beaufort County Auditor’s website.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
