A decision has been made for the zoning of the new Highland Springs Middle School in Aiken County.
Aiken County Board of Education members, in a called meeting on Tuesday, March 7, approved in a 5-2 vote to go with scenario 1, which pulls students from the four middle schools in Areas 2 and 3, which are North Augusta, Paul Knox, Leavelle McCampbell and Langley-Bath-Clearwater. Students being rezoned in this scenario will only go to Highland Springs.
Dr. Lance Richards, manager with MGT Consulting, said with scenario 1, 532 students will be impacted.
Dr. Patricia Hanks, the District 4 representative, said she was in favor of scenario 1 because it has the least number of students changing schools, and those who are moving will go to a new school.
“(Scenario 1) involves both Areas 2 and 3, and it disrupts the least amount of students,” Hanks said. “If we involve (Areas) 2 and 3, that only leaves two choices, 1 and 5…(Scenario 5) doubles pretty much the number of students who would be dislocated and moved around. That movement does not even mean they are going to the new school…and with looking at the new sheet we got regarding transportation, it’s going to improve the distance and the time getting to and from school overall for the students.”
District 3 representative Brian Silas said his concern with scenario 1 was how far away from Highland Springs it reached.
“I’m a scenario 5 guy because it doesn’t do that. It’s a contiguous nature,” Silas said “…I just don’t like the distance and that’s going to be a hard pill for some folks to swallow who live so far away from Highland Springs.”
The board considered four scenarios when making the decision. The other scenarios were:
- Scenario 2 pulled students only from Paul Knox and NAMS, and if students moved, they would go to Highland Springs.
- Scenario 5 pulled students from all four middle schools, but in this scenario is they would be moved to one of the five schools.
- Scenario 6 pulled the students from Paul Knox and NAMS only, but if they are moved, they would go to one of the three schools.
The school will open for students starting for the 2023-24 school year with classes starting on July 25. Information on Highland Springs can be found at https://www.acpsd.net/HighlandSprings.
