Clover School District has a current high school capacity of 3,109 students. Projections from an independent, outside firm show that student enrollment in the Clover School District will exceed this projection in the 2026-2027 school year. If a bond is approved in November 2022, design and construction work may begin so that a new high school can open for the 2026-2027 school year just as this threshold is met. This would prevent Clover High School from operating over its capacity.

A year-round school model approved by the South Carolina State Board of Education does not expand school capacity. It provides flexibility in scheduling throughout the year, like with start and end dates, assuming students are in the classroom at some point during each of the 12 calendar months.  However, it doesn’t help with over-crowded schools.  Students must attend school 180 days per year by SC law.  There are not enough weekdays to operate schools for two different cohorts of students to complete a full school year. Students and staff would not want to work or attend school on weekends to complete the required 180 days.  

This model is disruptive in many ways. Students are separated from friends when they are assigned to different tracks. Community services, like daycare centers, have to shift their operation when school-age children need childcare during the school year for weeks at a time because they are “tracked out.” The model is also more frequently used at the elementary level than the high school level because of the disruption it introduces to athletic and arts programs when all of the students are not attending school at the same time. School buildings also experience greater wear and tear because they are not closed for the longer periods of time needed for extensive cleaning and maintenance projects.

Attending schools in shifts is not a viable option for addressing enrollment growth. Students are required to complete 120 seat hours in order to receive course credit. As a result, the length of shifts would keep schools open from very early in the morning to very late at night. Families would not be able to accommodate this with their existing work schedules, and it would be exceedingly difficult to staff at a time when schools across the country are already experiencing a teacher shortage. It would also be difficult to determine which students would attend in the morning or at night because of impacts to things like sports, extracurricular activities and after-school jobs. 

Although students have some flexibility in selecting elective courses at the secondary level, seven elective credits are required for graduation. Elective courses are also the courses students find most engaging. Elective courses include everything from world languages and fine arts (both of which are required for admission into a four-year college) and career and technical education (CTE) courses. CTE students graduate with industry credentials that prepare them for the workforce right after high school.  Several CTE students take dual enrollment courses at York Technical College while in high school to work toward certifications and Associates Degrees that lead to higher pay upon graduation.  Extracurriculars in athletics, fine arts and ROTC have led to many additional scholarships for students at the college level.

Taxes paid on your home provide funds for what is known as debt service. Debt service is the payment local government must make to repay money that was borrowed previously as part of other bond packages. In other words, taxpayers are currently paying for schools that already exist in their community in the same way that you might make payments on your home in a 30-year mortgage. The bond referendum seeks to borrow funds to build a new school. Those funds will be repaid into the future, and the responsibility for repayment is shared with new residents moving into our community.

The older school near the stadium houses a number of district programs and, therefore, is not available to be used as high school space. The building is the home of Clover Virtual Academy, Blue Eagle Academy, Bright Beginnings, Adult Education, Affinity Healthcare and the District Resource Center. While there are a few empty classrooms that could support other programs like these, there is not enough space for a middle or high school. 

Adding a floor to Clover High School is not a practical solution to the overcrowding problem. First, it invites more students on to a campus where core facilities, like the hallways and cafeteria, are already overcrowded. Secondly, the facility’s structure was not designed to support the additional weight another floor would provide. Finally, it would not be safe to try to construct additional classroom space while school is in session, and a construction project of this magnitude most certainly could not be completed during summer break.

CSD had $35 million available in the Capital Building Fund to support three projects–renovations at Bethany Elementary, mobile units and classroom additions at Oakridge Middle and renovations at Clover High School to increase the capacity of the school’s core facilities The project at Oakridge was completed over the summer, and the project at Bethany is getting underway this fall.

The current core of CHS is not sufficient for its current enrollment of 2,728 or its expected growth to 2,967 in the next three years. This figure is based on current middle school enrollment and assumes no community growth, which we already know has been approved.

The proposed core renovations include:

• Opening the center Commons Area so that students may come inside the building in the morning and during the day. This project is proposed for safety reasons.

• Moving the media center so that the Commons Area can be expanded.

• Widening the hallways for class changes by removing unused lockers.

• Increasing athletic facilities, like locker rooms, the weightroom and the wrestling/cheerleading room.

• Separating the traffic pattern of the 9th Grade Campus and Clover High School to get cars off Highway 55–another safety concern.

• Creating more serving lines and seating in the cafeteria and internal courtyards so that more students can eat.

• Adding 200 additional parking spaces to address the current shortage of 187 spaces. 

These renovations will improve the 46-year old CHS facility to address both long- and short-term needs and prepare it to handle growth in the coming years. The renovations are designed to improve safety, instruction and extracurricular participation in the years ahead.

The election will be held Tuesday, November 8, 2022. To register to vote, check your registration status or determine your polling location, please visit https://www.scvotes.gov. For details about absentee and early voting in York County, visit the York County Voter Registration and Elections website.

The only project included in the bond is a second high school on the property that the district owns on Daimler Boulevard. 

Clover School District’s middle school enrollment is on an even faster trajectory than the high school enrollment. Projections show Clover Middle School and Oakridge Middle School exceeding their combined capacity of 2,454 students in the 2025-2026 school year. By approving construction of a new high school, the Ninth Grade campus can be converted to serve as the district’s third middle school, saving the construction costs for a second building. 

Clover School District included wording about using the parcel of land owned by the district on Daimler Boulevard in the Bond Resolution.  That site has been approved as a school site by the South Carolina Department of Education Office of School Facilities.This property has been analyzed and reviewed by a number of agencies to ensure that it is viable for hosting this project. The investigations included:

• A geotechnical study to confirm that soil conditions are suitable for construction;
• An environmental study to confirm jurisdictional water locations and environmentally-sensitive areas;
• A threatened and endangered species survey to assure that none are present on the site;
• A cultural resource survey to confirm that no historic artifacts are present on the site; 
• A grand tree survey to determine whether any need to be preserved or mitigated; and 
• A review by the South Carolina Department of Transportation to determine traffic impact in the area.

The Daimler property has successfully cleared all these investigations.

A new high school and middle school would be staffed through a combination of processes. First, existing staff at the 9th Grade Campus would be transferred to one of the two high schools or one of the three middle schools, depending on their certification. Secondly, some staff at the existing high school may select to go to the new high school or be reassigned to the new high school, as the decrease in enrollment at Clover High School would also reduce the number of teachers needed there. Finally, a few new positions would be added to fill other responsibilities. Staff salaries are paid from the operating budget, which is separate from the capital budget used for constructing facilities. The operating budget is not part of the 4% home tax. 

The capital budget covers school construction and maintenance projects. It is funded through taxes paid on your home, bonds and impact fees.

The operating budget covers the school district’s payroll, utilities, supplies and materials. The operating budget is funded through business taxes, as well as taxes on cars, boats and RVs.

A family whose home has an appraised value of $300,000 would see an annual tax increase of $312. For a precise figure, use the bond tax calculator.