Berkeley County board adopts Plan 2B, shifting Valley View, Bunker Hill and Mill Creek to K‑5; Inwood families given choice

The Berkeley County Board of Education voted to adopt staff recommendation Plan 2B, changing the grade configuration in several schools to a K‑5 model and allowing families in the Inwood area to choose between designated elementary options.

Consultant Scott Leopold told the board the district launched a survey on Dec. 2 that was sent to roughly 4,000 families in the impacted area and received 628 responses. "There were a total of 628 responses to the survey," Leopold said, showing "low support for options 1a and 1b" and more mixed responses for options 2a and 2b, with staff generally favoring the least‑disruptive option and many families—especially from Inwood—favoring the K‑5 plan.

Superintendent Dr. Sachs said the feedback shaped the recommendation and said staff will now begin implementation planning. "We will produce some staffing change options...and we will work with the schools impacted by the configuration change and make sure that we are keeping them in the loop," Dr. Sachs said.

Under Plan 2B as described to trustees, Valley View, Bunker Hill and Mill Creek would revert to elementary (K‑5) configurations; Mountain Ridge Primary and Mountain Ridge Intermediate would remain in their existing primary/intermediate configurations. District staff argued the K‑5 option reduces transitions for students and keeps siblings together but acknowledged operational challenges—transportation, classroom furniture and some facilities not currently configured for K‑5—would need to be addressed.

Board members asked about supervision, bus routing and how many additional staff might be required; Dr. Sachs said staffing needs would depend on family choices and routing outcomes and that the district would request families under Plan 2B to indicate which school they would attend to help with route and staffing decisions. The superintendent said the district expected to develop staffing options and a change‑notification timeline as next steps.

A trustee moved to adopt Plan 2B and the board approved the motion by voice vote. The motion was not recorded with a roll‑call tally in the transcript. Implementation is slated for the 2026–27 school year and will include further work with principals on furniture, library materials and playground configuration where needed.

What's next: district staff will create staffing‑change options, coordinate with affected principals on infrastructure and notify families of final boundaries and timelines.

Provenance: Presentation and recommendation began with Scott Leopold (consultant) and Dr. Sachs (superintendent); topic in transcript spans SEG 352 through SEG 1051.