An uncertain enrollment forecast has some Richland District Two parents hoping for clearer skies. This fall the district welcomed nearly 750 students.
"Its not fair to students, its not fair to teachers and it's certainly not fair to taxpayers," said parent Stephen Gilchrist.
What's unfair to Gilchrist is the uncertainty of where the students will go. That has him looking for solutions, before things explode. Gilchrist recommends opening another charter school, like the Hope Academy.
"We don't want South Carolina to once again to be one of the last states to consider, what many other states in our country have already decided to embrace," said Gilchrist.
"Charter Schools are very popular all across the country," said Hope Charter Chairman Michael Letts. "They are the wave of the future."
A wave Letts wants the district to jump on. In July the district denied their request for an elementary charter school.
"Change is sometimes viewed with great dismay or great caution; so the district has not been very favorable or very responsive in our request for a charter school," said Letts.
District Two Spokeswoman Theresa Riley says change is still coming. Riley says construction for several new Richland Two Schools are in the works. The plan includes four elementary, one middle school and one high school. They are all scheduled to open by 2012.
In a statement to WACH Fox News, Riley said this about Hope Academy: "The Board voted unanimously (7-0) to deny the Hope Academy Charter School application. The Board's vote is well-grounded in fact and law and was appropriately made in the best interest of the students of Richland Two.
But how to ease the increase in enrollment continues to be up for discussion.
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