Trustees reviewed schematic designs and progress reports for several major district construction projects at their Dec. 8 meeting while members of the public urged the board to prioritize safe, fully equipped athletic facilities.

Architects representing JHS and LS3P showed renderings for Dutch Fork Elementary (an X-plan school sized for about 550 students, roughly 90,000 square feet, with 26 core classrooms plus add-alternate classrooms and an optional 12,000-square-foot auditorium) and a multi-level student activity center and dining addition at Irmo High designed to seat about 700 students. Directors described phased design work, the limits of schematic-level cost estimates and the need for full A&E services to determine feasibility and firm budgets.

Several residents and community stakeholders used the meeting’s public-comment period to press the board on athletics infrastructure. Thomas Moore, a longtime high-school game announcer, asked the board to expand the Dutch Fork press box to protect media and to accommodate broadcast operations. Tara Seyfried, a district retiree and booster-club treasurer, said the current setup exposes students and staff to weather and lacks basic amenities such as restrooms and an indoor filming space accessed by stairs. Kim Wirtz, a past touchdown-club president, noted a funding disparity with Chapin High — which received $8 million for stadium improvements previously — and asked the district to consider equal treatment for Dutch Fork and Irmo.

Trustees and architects discussed design tradeoffs raised by board members: roof types and long-term lifecycle cost, playground surfacing (the district has moved toward artificial-turf fall surfaces), accessible playgrounds and special-education spaces, and whether projects should be delivered via design-bid-build or other contracting methods. Administration and architects repeatedly cautioned that schematic drawings indicate concept and circulation but are not sufficient alone to produce reliable cost estimates; full architectural and engineering drawings or solicitations are needed.

The board took a range of procedural votes during the meeting, including a 3-2 vote to defer an agenda item (Item 19) about A&E services for middle-school athletic fields until related capital-planning questions are resolved. The postponement followed a discussion in which administration said deferral could delay the study and leave the board without cost information. Separately, the board approved several prior meeting minutes and a set of employment items; a separate contractual matter relating to a Chapin High School booster club failed on a 2-3 vote.

What’s next: administrators said the district will continue schematic development, move toward solicitations for A&E services where needed and factor community input into scheduling and funding decisions. Trustees asked staff to return with cost and timeline estimates as the projects move from schematic design toward construction documents and bidding.