Horry County Schools cites need for energy-positive designs as reason building new schools is delayed

Horry County Schools has been trying to build five new schools for two years, and district officials say it will be a few more months before shovels hit the ground.

The district launched its current school building project two years ago to help address overcrowding in area schools, said Joe DeFeo, board of education chairman.

Since then, the building project has been stalled by efforts to design energy-positive schools from the ground up and by a lack of communication between board members and district officials, DeFeo said. The need to design buildings with a lesser ecological footprint is another factor affecting the slowdown.

In other school districts around South Carolina, such as in Charleston and Lexington, new schools have been built in between two and four years.

Officials in those districts said that once funding is in place, they were able to build elementary schools within two years. Horry County Schools has yet to design plans for its five new schools.

“I believe now the communication the board has with [interim superintendent] Rick Maxey has improved dramatically,” DeFeo said. “The hope is that will make our job a lot easier and get things done in a much more timely manner.”

Teal Harding, district spokeswoman, attributed the construction slowdown to the time needed by the board to request and review energy-efficient designs after the board tossed out conceptual design plans for five new schools in November and kept plans for remodels and additions to two schools.

“The design process remained on schedule between October 2013 and November 2014,” Harding said. Then the board canceled the call for architects and, since then, “analysis of the different delivery methods is ongoing.”

“We decided we would like to do energy-positive schools with green technology, which will save us a lot of money in the future and help pay for operations,” DeFeo said.

Energy efficiency is considered in school building projects statewide, including Lexington District 1 for example, where all new schools – 12 since 2003 – are energy-efficient, according to Jeff Salters, chief operations officer for the district.

DeFeo said the board also decided to use a design-build project delivery system for its five new schools, which employs the same company for design and construction. Bids for renovations on Seaside Elementary and North Myrtle Beach Middle School will be done using an integrated project delivery system, DeFeo said.

He said the schools eventually will go back to the bidding process, but first Horry County Schools must design construction contracts for the new schools. DeFeo said the new design request forms should hit the street within the next week.

The high cost of land in Horry County also has added to the building challenges, according to DeFeo, who said six acres of land cost the district about $5 million several years ago, and the price is still increasing.

“The No. 1 reason for the delay is because we had to design new schools that have a lesser footprint than traditional school layout so we could afford to build the schools on land we already own,” DeFeo said.

Horry County Schools approved a $451.6 million, 10-year building plan in April 2014. Several construction-ready acres in Carolina Forest, Myrtle Beach and Socastee have already been purchased.

Construction timelines in other S.C. districts

Lexington School District 1, which encompasses 30 schools and about 24,000 students, passed a bond referendum in 2008 to build five new schools. Salters said each school took about two years to build.

Three elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school were built by Lexington’s referendum, Salters said. The district “spent a good amount of time” designing plans for the first elementary school, which sped up construction of the second and third school, Salters said.

“Since we weren’t designing from scratch, those schools took less time,” Salters said.

Middle schools in Lexington usually take a year longer, while high schools may require almost five years to build, Salters said.

Each referendum passed by Lexington District 1 included renovations or additions to current schools, a move Salters said is necessary for any district.

Charleston County Schools the second-largest district in the state, has 48,000 students and 84 schools. The district currently is in the process of building six new schools, according to Jeff Borowy, the district’s deputy for capital programs.

Since 1997, the district has spent $1.4 billion in construction, which includes new schools and remodels to others, according to Borowy. Eight high schools, seven middle schools and 25 elementary schools have popped up since 2000.

The district passed a penny sales tax referendum in 2010 that is expected to raise $470 million over the next two years, Borowy said.

Borowy said each new school takes about three years to complete – from design to construction – unless any demolition or extra planning is necessary. Tack on about a year, and Charleston has a new school within four years.

Funding for new Horry County new schools

DeFeo said the Horry County Schools officials still are aiming for all five new schools to be complete by August 2017.

All new construction and renovation funds for Horry County schools stem from the county’s penny tax income. The school building projects were originally budgeted in October 2013 at $427.6 million but revised several times, eventually leading to an increase in July 2014, Harding said.

The board approved issuing “refunding” bonds in November, which prevents the district from having to raise millage rates or requiring a referendum. The refunding will allow Horry County to profit from 8 percent of current bonds, which will be paid between 2024-25. The bonds will provide $488.5 million of funding.

Early College High School and Scholars Academy, both opened in 2013, were the last schools built by Horry County Schools, Harding said.

This story was originally published February 21, 2015 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Horry County Schools cites need for energy-positive designs as reason building new schools is delayed."