Parents upset over proposed redistricting in Fort Mill

FORT MILL, S.C. — Thousands of Fort Mill Schools district students will likely be reassigned to a new school next year.

“We know that there are many neighborhoods that are impacted by this, and many neighborhoods that are frankly upset about it,” said parent Melissa Carstens.

The mother moved her family to Fort Mill in 2015, because of the school system.

Her children have been redistricted several times since then, she said.

“It seems that this time it’s a little bit more haphazard than it has in the past,” Carstens said.

She said the district appears to have overlooked the human element.

“Without any concern for things like traffic,” she said. “Bus rides are going to be longer.”

The district is opening Flint Hill Elementary School next year and Flint Hill Middle School the year after that.

“Any time we open schools, we have to then look at the lines and adjust them to populate those schools,” said district spokesperson Joseph Burke.

He estimates the process will impact at least 2,500 elementary and middle school students.

“When we adjust those lines, it generally, mostly, impacts every school in that particular grade level,” Burke said.

Carstens said the first draft will be disruptive if it comes to fruition, particularly, for kids like her son who attend Gold Hill Middle School.

“Unfortunately, he’s going to do his sixth-grade year at one middle school and then transfer to a new middle where he is now rezoned for seventh and eighth grade,” Carstens said.

Many of the students in her Hawks Creek neighborhood will move from a school that’s virtually right around the corner to one that is a half-hour away, she said.

“We’re hoping that they might take a closer look and see if they can do better,” Carstens said.

Officials reiterate the plan is only in its first draft stage.

“We try to address those concerns anywhere we can,” Burke said. “The hard part is sometimes you do just have to make changes.”

District officials said they have received 300 emails from the community about the proposed maps.

They’re taking public feedback through next Monday.

School district staff will present the maps they recommend on Tuesday during the school board meeting.

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