After a 6-3 vote, Lexington County is moving forward to resume school concurrency, allowing officials to say no to a housing development based on capacity data provided by school districts. 

The vote occurred at the Jan. 27 county council meeting. Council members Todd Cullum, Clifford Fisher and Michael Bishop voted against the motion.

Councilwoman Beth Carrigg told council she sent a five-page letter to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office seeking an opinion on the legality of school concurrency. The office told The Post and Courier it has not issued an official opinion.

All Lexington County school superintendents were contacted regarding questions on the concurrency, except Lexington County School District Four Superintendent Justin Nutter. Lexington County administrator Lynn Sturkie said attempts to reach him were unsuccessful at the time of the meeting. 

Carrigg added that most enrollment and capacity data are public information and available on the school district’s websites. The school districts contacted said they would submit this information to the county when the time comes. 

“By law, they must report their five-year needs and capacity to the Department of Education every three years,” Carrigg said at the meeting.

School capacity data will now be reviewed by the planning commission before recommendations are sent back to council for final consideration.

The decision follows an earlier vote by council committee members to remove the school concurrency questionnaire that had been sent out to all Lexington County school districts.

At the October meeting, council committee members Todd Cullum, Glen Conwell, Clifford Fisher, Michael Bishop and Todd Cockrell voted to remove the questionnaire. Those opposed were Darrell Hudson, Beth Carrigg, Charli Wessinger and Larry Brigham.

During that meeting, council members cited legal concerns about a county regulating schools. It was also noted the concurrency itself remained in place, but the questionnaire used to gather information from public schools had been removed. 

Current concurrency standards require prior formal approval of land-use activities based on five factors: law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, solid waste management and public schools.

The concurrency proposal was approved in 2023.