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Fort Mill parents press school board over Silfab plant; district details $356,400 monitoring contract
Summary
Parents told the Fort Mill School Board the district has "broken" their trust after construction of a Silfab industrial facility near schools; the district described a $356,400 contract with Citadel Environmental for indoor sampling, quarterly monitoring and continuous outdoor perimeter equipment and said York County declined to help fund it.
Parents raised sharp concerns about a heavy industrial facility under construction near Fort Mill schools and pressed the school board to take additional protective steps, saying district communications and monitoring plans have left families uncertain.
"That trust has been shattered," said Frank Jernick, a Fort Mill resident, in public comment, arguing the district must adopt a district-wide emergency training protocol, conduct independent HVAC safety reviews near the Silfab site, and provide "full transparency" to parents.
Parent Jared Morocco questioned the timing and format of district outreach, saying the district's community session was scheduled at 5 p.m. and limited to one hour, which he described as "a box checking exercise" that excluded working parents. "You kept us in the dark and left us scrambling," he said, criticizing the decision not to release baseline air-sampling results before the meeting.
Brandon Dunford urged the board to clarify technical limits of the monitoring network, saying the continuous perimeter monitors "don't measure silane or hydrogen fluoride," and asked what actions would be triggered if students or staff experienced symptoms consistent with chemical exposure but monitors did not exceed thresholds.
In response, Miss Lourdough (finance/staff) described the district's contract with Citadel Environmental. She said the contract, approximately $356,400, covers three tasks: stakeholder and community engagement; a multi-component indoor air sampling program (pre- and post-occupancy and quarterly checks over a 12-month period); and continuous outdoor perimeter monitoring. She said the approximate quarterly cost is $89,000 and the district has paid "a little over $47,000" so far.
Lourdough said the district reached out to York County seeking assistance with the contract cost but the county declined. The district also considered asking Silfab to contribute but rejected that option to keep ownership and control of the data and avoid the appearance of compromised results.
Board members asked for clarity on funding sources and data ownership; Lourdough said some contract costs have been charged to bond or contingency funds and that the district would consider budget implications for future years. She added that the monitoring schedule includes baseline (pre-occupancy), post-occupancy, a startup sampling event when Silfab reaches full start-up, and quarterly sampling during the year.
The board did not take formal action on policy changes tied to the plant during the meeting. Several residents said they want the district to follow Rock Hill's Standard Response Protocol for hazardous materials events and to make HVAC safety reviews and communication about monitoring results a higher priority.
The board acknowledged the public's concerns and the district's limited options for compelling changes to nearby zoning, and said staff would continue to provide updates and consider next steps.
