Voters in Spartanburg County School District 2, one of the fastest-growing districts in South Carolina’s Upstate, will decide Tuesday whether to let it borrow up to $186.6 million, a sizable general obligation bond program for a suburban district of about 12,000 students.
The Nov. 3 referendum, as HERE Spartanburg reported, is split into two questions. The first would authorize up to $156.6 million of bonds to build a new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus in the Boiling Springs area and add classrooms at Cooley Springs-Fingerville and Mayo elementary schools. The district says that borrowing can be absorbed without raising its tax rate.
A second, smaller ask
The second question seeks up to $30 million for upgraded stadiums at the district’s two high schools, athletic work at its middle schools and new playground equipment at its elementary schools, touching all 14 campuses. It would add five mills to property tax bills, which the district estimates at about $20 a year on a $100,000 home and about $30 a year on a $100,000 business or rental property. That question can take effect only if the first one passes.
Growth drives the borrowing
The district, centered on Boiling Springs and Chesnee north of Spartanburg, says enrollment has climbed from a little over 10,500 students in 2019 to more than 12,200 in 2026, straining classroom space. Supporters campaigning for both questions held a public meeting at Cooley Springs-Fingerville Elementary on Oct. 31, arguing that delaying construction would lead to crowded classrooms.
If approved, the bonds would join a busy calendar of local school and infrastructure borrowing across South Carolina this fall, including Greenwood District 50’s school bond and Beaufort County’s road-tax and bond package, both also on Tuesday’s ballots. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. More local business coverage is on the HERE Spartanburg business page.
