Darlington County voters delivered a landslide approval to a $250 million school construction plan this week, with unofficial results showing 15,005 ballots in favor and 6,882 opposed — just over 68% support. The referendum clears the way for a new Hartsville High School, a new Spaulding Middle School in Lamar, and a combined elementary school replacing two aging campuses in Darlington.
The tally, reported as 68.56% yes to 31.44% no, came amid overall county turnout of 57.25%, with 23,715 ballots cast among 41,427 registered voters, according to News and Press. The vote authorizes the Darlington County School District Board of Education to borrow up to $250 million to fund the three proposed projects, per the district's own referendum FAQ.
Notably, an earlier report from The Post and Courier described the plan as a $230 million borrowing proposal ahead of the vote, while the district's FAQ and post-election reporting describe authorization of up to $250 million.
What Gets Built, and What Gets Replaced
The new construction plan calls for a combined kindergarten-through-fifth-grade elementary school in Darlington to replace both Pate Elementary and Brockington Elementary Magnet School, according to the district's communications office. Hartsville High School, Spaulding Middle School, Pate Elementary and Brockington Elementary Magnet were all built in the 1950s or 1960s.
The new Spaulding Middle School is planned for district-owned property at Lamar-Spaulding Elementary School, the district says. A site for the new Hartsville High School has not been finalized — the district says it is evaluating locations other than the previously discussed Kelleytown property after hearing community feedback.
Superintendent Pointed to Safety and Affordability
Superintendent Matthew Ferguson told The Post and Courier in September that the district could not afford to build a new Hartsville High School without the referendum passing. He described the current Hartsville High campus as sprawling across 19 separate buildings and said he was concerned the campus might be unsafe.
Ferguson also said the proposal would not require an increase in the district's current debt-service tax rate, and that the district plans to use its existing budget to make loan payments. As a point of comparison, Ferguson noted that the district built three elementary schools six years earlier for roughly $20 million apiece, as reported by WBTW.
Years of Warnings About Aging Buildings
The push for new construction follows a 2024 facilities study that recommended immediate replacement of Hartsville High School. That same study identified security concerns, aging infrastructure, flooding and drainage issues, and noncompliance with accessibility standards across district facilities, issues the Darlington County School District 2024 Facilities Study laid out in detail.
The study also noted that many district schools date to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and said student enrollment had declined slowly over the previous decade even as the district acknowledged population growth could still occur. This isn't the district's first large-scale rebuilding effort — a 2006 referendum funded construction or renovation of Darlington Middle School, Hartsville Middle School, Spaulding Middle School, the Darlington County Institute of Technology, and the B.A. Gary Complex, according to district records. Earlier consolidations folded Lamar Elementary and Spaulding Elementary into single campuses, among other mergers.
Lingering Questions Over Site Selection
Opposition to the proposal centered in part on the unresolved location for the new Hartsville High School, a concern that persisted even as the broader package won strong support at the polls. The location of the new high school had not been finalized before the vote.
