Dorchester District Two (DD2) families of elementary school, rising ninth graders and current high school students will be affected by proposed swift changes and real estate resale values of some homes during the first planned rezoning phase, which takes place over over the next three years.  

Rezoning DD2’s first phase will be proposed to the school board of trustees during the open meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, at 815 South Main St. in Summerville. Parents and other homeowners strongly oppose Superintendent William Robbins’ proposed plan in established long-term tax-paying neighborhoods. One last opportunity to express concerns will be limited to three minutes per person at the end of the Monday night board meeting. The final vote for adopting the rezoning proposal by the DD2 Board of Trustees is Jan. 8, 2024.

Rezoning has been the first choice by Robbins, utilizing a demographer for clean-cut roadway mapping of neighborhoods instead of adding more wings to schools or other options to handle the spike in new students. Residents implore Robbins to spend more time genuinely seeing students and parents as future allies, not statistics. This leads some to question his attention to detail, with many irons in the fire during his 17 months in our community. Robbins’ neighborhood is equally slated for rezoning from Sand Hill to Knightsville Elementary schools, although a portion of The Ponds development is 55 and older; less than half of the homes will have children moved. One mile away is Highwoods Plantation, a 200-home neighborhood founded in 2012; homeowners in this neighborhood are 60/40% minorities, which highlights all demographics being affected negatively by moving K-5 students to a significantly lower-performing school than the current higher-achieving school.

Are affected families expected to move regularly to combat constant rezoning with rapid community growth spikes, ensuring their children stay with committed, hardworking and excellent teachers and staff they have become attached to during these most formidable years of life? Surely not, although Robbins publicly suggested people buy property in the district near their school of preference. While this thought process was well meant, doing so and not being a permanent resident at said property is considered criminal fraud.

Constant rezoning and moving children’s schools is damaging, especially after COVID-19 shutdowns and lack of academic consistency. Military families statistically deal with constant moving of locations and schools due to occupation choice, and some families have chosen their homes in this community for very specifically vetted schools. Childhood resilience can be considered vital during the first relocation of schools if under 5, yet the proposed track insists children will be moved more than once. Stability for children in schools is of utmost importance for so many transitions. Consultation with Dr. Shauna Joye, a pediatric psychologist with more than 15 years of experience in the field, confirms this information. Further, the number of counselors to students per school slated to help with this challenging transition is minimal.

DD2 schools rank No. 10 in the state, yet specific outlier schools, such as Newington Elementary, ranked one point away from scoring average overall per the South Carolina Department of Education Report Card 2022-2023.

Local research snapshots of South Carolina rankings via Carolinaschoolhub.com, Schooldigger.com and Zillow.com show the following:

  • Beech Hill Elementary School ranked No. 21 (Zillow 9/10)
  • Newington Elementary School ranked No. 297 (Zillow 5/10)
  • Sandhill Elementary School ranked No. 164 (Zillow 5/10)
  • Knightsville Elementary ranked #No. 226 (Zillow 5/10)

Moving multiple students non-laterally in the immediate future during the next few years without new schools during Dorchester County’s unending growth is a kneejerk reaction. Temporary classroom options for the immediate localized spike in student numbers should consider other construction options more thoroughly, such as learning cottages and trailers and additional wings onto schools. Recent examples and pricing of school wing additions in the Lowcountry were witnessed in Beaufort County Schools at River Ridge Academy, with two wings completed in one semester and May River High School, finished in 2020.

A request for a formal audit on purchasing four new learning cottages for Sand Hill students is in order. Robbins stated implementation for each trailer costs $400,000-$500,000 of school-allocated funds, including permits, plumbing and ensuring ADA ramp standards are met. Federal funding for such is currently unknown. Transparency should be of utmost importance, and pricing has been accessed by concerned citizens contacting numerous commercial energy saving, hurricane-grade portable classrooms, such as 360connect, and can be delivered in one business day priced at $10,000-$100,000 with minor customization options. BOXX Modular, Koch Modular and WillScot are other options that are used locally for temporary to multiyear use classrooms. There are also multiple options to rent portable classrooms so that proper infrastructure improvements can be vetted, designed, and constructed to support the rapid growth of our school district. Most students have used learning cottages at some point during their education and work very well while pausing and planning for future growth.

Lastly, deliberately purchasing homes within a specific DD2 school’s zone, which is warded against since zone lines have been stated publicly, will often change with population growth. Dorchester County’s growth and development is rapidly changing the landscape of our community and has been approved by the county. A more comprehensive plan is needed so our schools are not constantly playing catch up to the known developments under construction. 

Crystal Snow is a homeowner and parent who lives in Summerville.