SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) — Monday was the first day of school for several districts across the Upstate. In Spartanburg County, some school leaders said they’re welcoming more students back to school, as enrollment goes up.
“It was great seeing so many smiling faces and so many new students and parents, whether they’re new to kindergarten or new to middle or high school,” said Dr. Randall Gary, superintendent for Spartanburg School District Five.
Some students said they were ready to start the school year and welcome classmates back to campus.
“We love to see the new faces,” said Boiling Springs High School senior Kylie McGinnis. “We love to just get everybody back in here.”
Spartanburg County School District Two leaders said it’s the start of an exciting new year.
“This year is our first year that we’re able to say we have a full time school resource officer in each of our schools and that’s a process that’s been a couple of years in the making,” said Adrian Acosta, the director of public relations for the district.
He said they’re also expecting to see enrollment numbers go up, again.
“We already know preliminarily that we’re probably go up by several hundred students again this year, which is kind of keeping in with the trend that we’ve seen already with the past few years. Last year, we grew by nearly 600 students,” said Acosta.
Enrollment is also up in Spartanburg District Five.
“We’re expecting by the time things flesh out, probably in excess of 500 more students than we departed last year,” said Gary.
Construction is underway on some campuses too, as crews build new schools and renovate current ones to make room for more students.
“Here at Byrnes High School, you go around and can see where they’ve started the demolition, they’ve torn parts of our old building down,” said Gary.
Gary said they’re seeing progress across the district, including at the new Abner Creek Middle School, where crews broke ground last fall.
“They’ve got roofs up and walls that are coming up and foundations that are poured,” said Gary.
As staff welcome students back, he’s hopeful for a safe and educational school year.
He also said the district will have more accurate enrollment data and information in about 10 days.
