YORK, S.C. — York School District broke ground for a new school on Wednesday as the area expects much more growth.
Taxpayers supported a $90 million bond in 2024 to pay for White Hill Middle School along Old York Road near Ernest Road.
York School Superintendent Heath Branham said it’s a fulfilled dream.
The district purchased the land, which is about 64 acres on Highway 161, in 2025.
“The new middle school was not cheap, but our community said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Branham said.
It’s a first step as the town of York continues to grow.
A new elementary school will be needed, too, district leaders said.
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In 2022, school leaders asked city and county leaders to establish impact fees on new homes to help pay for new schools, but their request was denied.
They are now planning and studying how to move forward.
“I mean, I think everything’s on the table,” Branham said. “We have to balance it all. We have to look at revenues that we get from the state. We have to look at local taxes that we collect to run our schools and to build our schools.”
Money from that bond is also helping to renovate an early learning center.
District leaders said Wednesday that land next to the site of the new middle school once held a school for African American kids well before schools were desegregated.
White Hill Middle will open in July 2027.
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