Laurens County is making an investment in education and workforce development with construction of a new Career and Technology Education Center (CTE) as well as developing a plan to build or renovate District 55 schools, including the high school. However, a lack of funding has delayed the CTE Center’s opening from its original timeline.
District leaders had projected that the CTE Center would open in fall 2027. Laurens County has donated land near the Prisma Health Laurens County Hospital for the new facility, but construction has not started yet. The delay in the CTE Center’s construction comes largely from uncertainty surrounding funding at the state level. District officials say the project cannot move forward until financial support is secured, leaving the timeline dependent on decisions beyond the local level.
“We’ll need to get the funding prior to us being able to move forward with the project,” Superintendent Jody Penland said. “It would be a state allocation, and that would have to go through the state budget or wait on the next penny sales tax, which will be in two years, to provide funding. Once we got funding, it would be an 18-month build.”
Initially the District had hoped to receive support through a state budget allocation. However that plan was halted after changes were made to how funding was distributed.
“Last year we were in the budget and had been proposed, but the Governor did away with all the special allocations of funding,” Penland said. “[That funding] was kind of axed for all special requests across state, not just ours.”
While the Governor’s move was intended to create a more controlled and balanced budget, it also meant that locally requested projects like the Laurens County CTE Center were pushed back, forcing districts to explore funding options.
In spite of the CTE Center’s construction being on hold for at least two years, health science teacher Michelle Gibbs, whose classes would move from LDHS to the new facility, said she is excited about the CTE Center being built and believes the new campus will provide students a valuable opportunity.
“It will certainly give our students a great experience to have a center dedicated to careers and technology,” Gibbs said.
One of the key goals of the CTE Center is to help students gain real-world experience before they graduate. Gibbs also mentioned that the building plans include dedicated instructional areas that will support learning.
The center will feature modern classrooms, labs and workshops with tools and technology that students will need for their courses. These learning spaces are designed to closely resemble actual work environments.
“My students will have more opportunities to job shadow and possibly get an internship, in addition to the clinical hours they receive in the CNA class,” Gibbs said.
“According to the blueprints, there will be dedicated lab and classroom space,” Gibbs said. This will allow students to develop practical skills they can use immediately after high school.
Although CTE Center construction is on hold, District 55 is pushing forward with renovating or replacing aging facilities, including LDHS. The renovation of the high school would offer an updated version of the campus with better equipment and more modern resources for students and teachers. As the District considers rebuilding, it is holding community input meetings focusing on necessary improvements to facilities and equipment and funding.
According to Assistant Principal Erin Hahn, District 55 is “talking about how much to ask for and looking at the needs and the cost.” Part of the LDHS renovation plan would include removing the current pod system, which would change the layout of the school and how students move throughout the campus.
There are also challenges that come with construction on an existing campus. Building while students are still attending school would mean some areas will be blocked off, bringing many changes and adjustments throughout what would be a three-year process.
“Just the logistics of it any time you’re building on a preexisting campus while students are still there [are going to be challenging],” Hahn said. However, she believes the long-term benefits are going to be better than the challenges.
The logistics Hahn mentioned are what Penland referred to as a “phased-in-rebuild.”
“The process would mean building, tearing down pods, building, tearing down pods,” he said. The buildings that would remain include A, Y, L, the Gym and the Aux Gym, which are relatively new or have been renovated recently. This renovation would take three years and cost $130 million.
If the District were to build an entirely new high school, the building would be located on a new campus and would include new athletic fields. If District 55 pursues this option instead of renovating, the timeline would only be two years, but the cost would be $180 million, making it more difficult to get the funding.
According to Penland, money for either alternative will come from a bond referendum — a kind of fundraising in which voters in District 55 would decide if the school district is authorized to borrow money for long-term projects by selling bonds to investors, who will earn interest from tax revenue when the bonds mature. At its meeting in June, the District 55 Board of Trustees will decide how much money to request, and voters will decide whether or not to approve the sale of bonds during the November election.
The CTE Center will remain a separate project from the high school reconstruction or renovation.
