Facilities committee backs attendance-zone realignment for two new Carolina Forest elementary schools; goes to full board Dec. 9

The Erie County Board of Education facilities committee voted Nov. 18 to recommend new attendance-area boundaries tied to two newly constructed elementary schools in the Carolina Forest attendance area, and agreed to place the item on the full board agenda for final approval Dec. 9.

Facilities staff presented updated November 2024 enrollment and capacity data and a housing-development analysis used to redraw lines. Staff said they sought to keep neighborhoods intact, rely on natural and man-made boundaries, and leave room for growth; overall facility utilization in the affected schools was presented at about 76 percent. Staff recommended placing several new or proposed developments on Carolina Forest Elementary and moving Walker’s Woods into the new 10 Oaks Elementary to balance capacity across schools.

"We followed the procedure we discussed and are ready to finalize the alignments," facilities staff member Mr. Birch said. He told the committee staff posted a draft alignment Oct. 3, held community outreach including Carolina Forest Community Day, sent more than 8,500 individual notices and recorded roughly 8,000 website views during the review period.

Committee members cited traffic and density near the Highway 501 corridor as ongoing concerns. Facilities staff flagged multiple proposed developments near Gardner Lacy Road and a Conway Coastal Marketplace site that together could—if built at the densities discussed—add thousands of housing units; staff said those proposals would require monitoring and might prompt future adjustments to attendance lines.

The committee endorsed a one-year 'red zone' on the affected schools to pause new transfer approvals for the first year after the realignment, giving staff time to finalize enrollment forecasts and staffing allocations. "We will not accept any new transfers in for the first year," Mr. Birch said, adding that the waiver process would resume afterward.

Wendy Hodges moved to approve the recommended attendance-line realignments; the motion was seconded and approved by the facilities committee. David Cox, committee chair, said staff would present the same recommendation to the full board on Dec. 9 for final action.

The committee also requested continued coordination with Horry County and the city of Conway on growth and infrastructure issues, and said it would revisit long-term liaison arrangements in January as staff hires (including a GIS coordinator) provide further enrollment and development data. The committee's recommendation preserves neighborhood groupings where possible and aims to leave capacity in all impacted schools for near-term growth.

The facilities committee meeting concluded without final board approval; the full board will review and vote on the proposed attendance zones on Dec. 9.