By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer

No matter the name, be it Tanner Plantation, Liberty Hall or St. Thomas Point, the residential neighborhoods popping up throughout Berkeley County mean one thing: a strain on its schools.

The county estimates that more than 40,000 new households will be established within Berkeley’s county limits during the next 20 years.

While there is no way to predetermine how many students that development will actually mean for the school district, any spike in enrollment will be felt across an already strapped school district, says Kenneth Coffey, assistant superintendent for operational services. Berkeley has 26,374 students in 36 schools throughout its district.

As evidence of too many students and too few places to put them, Coffey offers these examples: at Boulder Bluff Elementary School, a guidance office is housed in a storage closet; at Stratford High School, 50 portable classrooms are needed to handle the load.

Berkeley is in the process of building a new elementary and middle school on Daniel Island, and a high school off Highway 176 will be put out to bid in coming months.

While Coffey points out that Berkeley isn’t growing as fast as neighboring Dorchester County, he also points to “for sale” signs along roads leading into the county.

Such land is sure to sell, and a good amount of it will be divided into home sites, Coffey says. The school district has no time to waste.

Berkeley’s building plan

At the end of Daniel Island Drive is Berkeley’s mammoth 190,000-square-foot elementary and middle school project, being handled by Brantley Construction Co.

The schools will cost nearly $33 million and will open in August 2006 with roughly a 1,200-student capacity.

In coming months, bids will be taken on a new high school along Highway 176 near Carnes Crossroad. The high school will cost between $50 million and $60 million, will be used by 2,000 students and is scheduled to open in August 2008.

In addition to building new facilities, additions and renovations also are taking place at Berkeley County schools.

At Berkeley Middle School, $18 million is paying for the addition of new administration offices, media center, cafeteria, bus loops, gymnasium and classrooms to replace 15 portables—a job also being completed by Brantley Construction Co.

General contractor Emory J. Infinger & Associates Construction Co. Inc. of North Charleston is handling $13 million worth of improvements at Sedgefield Middle School, and bids are out for $3 million worth of improvements at College Park Elementary.

Like Dorchester, Berkeley’s new schools and renovations are being funded through an alternative program, allowing a nonprofit agency to sell bonds to pay for construction. The district will then make installment payments.

An eye on the bottom line

All projects, be it those under construction or those barely in the discussion phase, require Berkeley to save every penny possible, and keep a watchful eye on what is being spent.

Schools cost between $120 and $130 per square foot. Costs are kept to a minimum by maximizing space and sacrificing design elements, Coffey says.

At the Daniel Island elementary and middle school project, architect Wayne Reed, of Columbia’s Davis & Floyd, an engineering and architecture firm, says costs are being kept in check by taking a simple approach.

“One of the main things I do is try to keep the geometry as simple as possible. You keep the circulation system as basic as possible. I’m talking about the ability to get from one place to another: the corridors, how you get from the cafeteria from the media center,” Reed says.

“If you look at a plan for the school, it’s all 90-degree angles. The building is totally symmetrical with straight lines. We try very hard not to experiment in the schools. It’s a tried and true method of masonry construction with a steel roof. The costs are predictable, and the construction is not complicated.”

The school district may be keeping immediate construction costs down with an emphasis on simplicity, says Ray Maher, vice president of Brantley Construction, the contractor on the Daniel Island project, but even more cost will be saved over time.

“They’re building it for long-term durability. It’s all block and very durable. They’re thinking smart when it comes to building materials,” Maher says.

“They’re choosing products that have been proven over time. We’ve got Corian window sills in there. You could put wood but then you’re going to be refinishing it all the time.”

Public, private cooperation

Berkeley County is getting a boost in its school projects from private developers who see quality, efficient schools as a means to attract homebuyers.

While it is not required that a developer set aside land for schools, it does help when it comes to gaining approvals, says Al Kennedy, Berkeley’s public information officer.

“If a developer is going to create a community that’s going to have a demand for new schools, having the property available certainly makes it a more feasible project,” Kennedy says.

What developers get in exchange for their acreage is another tool in attracting customers.

“They see schools as an integral part of their subdivisions,” Coffey says, though he adds the donation of land isn’t always free of strings. In some cases, the county will help a developer to build roads and install water lines, he says. However Kennedy says that usually comes in the form of improving roads leading to the subdivision, not in it. The county might also run water lines to the development but not through it.

One example of private business cooperating with the public school district came when Gramling Brothers Real Estate gave the district nearly 200 acres for a high school, the one off Highway 176 that will soon go to bid, and a new middle school and elementary school that will be built nearby. The donation came after Gramling purchased more than 4,000 acres of land formerly owned by MeadWestvaco.

Gramling plans approximately 5,000 homes for the area called Cane Bay Plantation.

Similarly, the Daniel Island Co. donated the land for the elementary and middle school project at 2365 Daniel Island Drive.

Such land donations are good business plans, says Ben Gramling, president of Gramling Brothers Real Estate.

“It’s not a requirement at all, but there are multiple reasons to do it. If you’re doing responsible development and sustainable development, you have to have a community where you can work and play. Having neighborhood schools is a part of that,” he says.

It is this cooperation between the public and private sector that will be key to handling the student load in Berkeley County. Though that is happening to some extent, he sees the need for much more communication and cooperation, Coffey says.

“We need to plan schools within subdivisions. Even if a developer can’t give us the property, they should contact us and let us be part of the process,” Coffey says. “I would like to see more open communication in the cities and counties as far as master planning. If possible, before the developers have in mind how to use every inch, let us come to the discussion table to help plan all needs.”

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