News 12 First at Five; March 26, 2008

AIKEN CTY, S.C. --- The combination of growth and older schools is prompting some possible changes to Aiken County Schools.

With more and more people moving into Aiken County, most schools are becoming much more crowded. Not to mention, they are pretty old too. But improvements could be on the way.

The sound of construction is all over Aiken County.

"Building more stories, you're seeing more traffic (and more) subdivisions. You're seeing more people move all the time," says Laura Norton.

In four short years, Norton, a parent of two children at Aiken Elementary School, is seeing it all. Aiken Elementary is one of several schools administrators say is at or above capacity.

"I know they've added a lot more kids here, so it might not be a bad idea to add another school," she says.

That's exactly what an Aiken County School Study Plan says: building a new elementary school in Aiken.

One reason for the influx of students in the future is growth. The growth is coming from the new homes at The Village at Woodside in Aiken, to another housing complex in the city. This all means more kids could be coming.

The other city with big growth is North Augusta. From the Palmetto Parkway to new homes near Exit 5 on I-20, "North Augusta is really booming," says North Augusta Elementary School Principal Dr. Angela Burkhalter.

As North Augusta booms, so do the halls of Dr. Burkhalter's school.

"We are definitely bursting at the seams all around, especially at the high school. I think this is a great idea," says Dr. Burkhalter.

The great idea is presented in the study, which is proposing a new elementary school in North Augusta.

"I think if we are going to grow as much as it's projected, I think we definitely have to have another elementary school because Mossy Creek (Elementary School in North Augusta) just opened three years ago and they already have to have mobile classrooms," says Dr. Burkhalter.

The proposed new schools are a small part of a big, three phase plan. The cost of all the proposed changes is coming in at $357 million dollars.

But now, everyone wants to know: will this proposal become reality?

"That's the million dollar question, or the $357 million question," says Deputy Superintendent David Caver.

So what happens now? The Board of Education will look into the study and see if they want to implement any of it.

As for coming up with the $357 million dollars, the school district is looking into a one-cent sales tax increase. However, they aren't sure if they have the authority to do that just yet.