2 weeks Ago
FORT MILL — With construction nearly done on one school and work to begin on another, the Fort Mill School District Board of Trustees wasn't swayed by the idea of waiting to open the facilities for possible developments for a nearby proposed solar panel plant. The board took a 6-1 vote on Nov. 5 to proceed with a student attendance realignment process that will send students into Flint Hill Elementary and Flint Hill Middle School across the next two years.
But that vote came after boisterous objections disrupted the board meeting and Chairwoman Kristy Thames Spears called for a break to settle the room. Some parents wanted the board to wait for legal disputes to settle regarding Silfab Solar's plant, which will be within eyesight of the new schools. The schools are on the north side of Gold Hill Road, while Silfab is leasing a warehouse on Logistics Lane, north of the school properties, where it will produce solar panels.
Residents are concerned about either long-term exposure risk or explosive disaster from the plant, which will use silane and hydrochloric acid in its manufacturing process. The warehouse is in a light-industrial area, whereas opponents said such manufacturing belongs in a heavy-industrial zone. Silane is a colorless, poisonous gas that’s easily ignited in air.
SC is seeing a $15B clean-energy boom. Rhetoric aside, the election probably won't undo it. Some board members said they've been satisfied with the work done by the schools, York County and the state Department of Public Health to be confident that the facility will be safe to be near the schools.
"We have very stringent guidelines that we look at to make sure our schools are safe," Trustee Scott Frattaroli said. "We trust in the agencies, so it's very difficult for a group of people to tell me, 'Don't trust the processes that have worked for us before. But trust us.
Trust the research we've done on the internet and what we believe this company is going to do.' It's difficult for me to reconcile that." Trustee Joe Helms made the sole vote against proceeding with the realignment.
While he said his conscience led him to vote no, he was concerned how some observers might interpret his vote because his children will be future Flint Hill students. "The reality is, if I voted no, it would sound like, 'Oh, he just doesn't want his kids to go there' " Helms said. Ralph Norman retains House seat in Hundley rematch District spokesman Joseph Burke said crowding issues and the finances of building schools, but not opening them would put the district in a difficult spot.
"We have several hundred kids now that are on enrollment freezes and we're trying to alleviate that," he said. A delay, even for a few months, wouldn't allow the district to staff the schools, Burke said. "We'll have the principal usually come on a minimum of a half year in advance and start staffing the school," Burke said.
"Contracts for all school districts go out in April or May. If you're not hiring by then, you're not putting anybody in that school until the following year." The Tuesday night vote coincided with Election Day.
Incumbents Spears, Frattaroli, and Anthony Boddie retained their seats against challengers Ellen Abramo, Denise Casey and Michelle K. Hoffman. Clinton College president resigns after seven years leading Rock Hill's HBCU.
