Lexington District One begins Beechwood zoning process
January 16, 2019
Beechwood Middle opens August 2019
At the January 15, 2019 regular monthly meeting of the Lexington County School District One Board of Trustees, the board heard the first reading of recommended attendance lines for Beechwood Middle School.
Beechwood Middle, located on 1340 Highway 378 on a 34.57-acre site, will open in August of 2019 for the 2019–2020 school year. The district states that the finished 196,000-square-foot school designed for 1,200 students has the capacity to serve 1,500 students.
The proposed attendance zone for Beechwood Middle School alters the attendance lines of Lexington Middle, Meadow Glen Middle and Pleasant Hill Middle schools. In other words, some children who attend these schools this year may attend a different school after the new attendance lines go into effect.
The proposed lines help alleviate overcrowding at Lexington Middle, Meadow Glen Middle and Pleasant Hill Middle schools and efficiently use facilities, minimize the division of subdivisions, consider balance for student diversity, allow future student growth in permanent facilities, consider transportation patterns for safe and efficient student transportation, and utilize natural and major road boundaries where possible.
In addition, the proposed lines create true high school feeder patterns. Beechwood Middle and Pleasant Hill Middle feed students to Lexington High School, while Lexington Middle and Meadow Glen Middle feed students to River Bluff High School.
Lexington Middle currently houses 998 students. Meadow Glen Middle houses 1,040 students. Pleasant Hill Middle houses 1,205 students.
If no eighth-graders elect to stay at their current schools by grandfathering, after rezoning, the district projects that Beechwood Middle will house 900 students, Lexington Middle 728, Meadow Glen Middle 878 and Pleasant Hill Middle 717.
The district will allow rising eighth-graders, designated to change middle schools next year due to rezoning, the opportunity to stay at their current school for their final year at the school as long as their parents provide transportation. The district will also offer immersion students the same opportunity. Parents will be given the opportunity to make that decision later.
The district will hold three public meetings so that the public can hear a formal presentation of the proposed attendance lines and review maps of the proposed attendance lines. That formal presentation takes place at 6:30 p.m. Lexington District One staff, however, will stay until 7:30 p.m. to answer questions.
Parents can come to any of these meetings and do not have to come to the one at their child’s school, as the district will provide the same information at all three meetings.
The zoning meetings will take place on:
- Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, in Lexington Middle School’s theater
- Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019, in Pleasant Hill Middle School’s theater
- Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019, in Meadow Glen Middle School’s theater
The Lexington District One Board of Trustees will hold a second reading of the zoning plan at the February 19 Board Meeting and a third reading of the zoning plan at the March 19 Board Meeting.
Parents can also keep up with information about the rezoning process online at http://www.lexington1.net/lexnews/lexington-district-one-begins-zoning-process.
