The promised renovations at ChapinHigh Schoolhave reached yet another impasse.  Common Sense for District 5 is a new group of citizens calling for a repeal of the entire referendum approved in 2008.

The group made up of mostly elderly members of the Chapin community feels in light of the current economic state any further spending of referendum dollars should be halted and the issue brought back before the voters.

This would effectively kill the renovation of ChapinHigh School.

In the latest battle waged by the group, members claim the school is only being renovated to hold 1300 which is contrary to the original proposal for a 1700 student high school.

Chapin’s current enrollment is just a little over 1300, yet the school was built to hold around 700.

Some members suggest this is a move by the district to fool the public into building a new high school.

“…Chapin High is only being expanded to 1,300, not 1,700 as promised,” says Co-chair Betty Burbach.

Board member Kim Murphy says the district is using her appeals to delay the renovations. Burbach and Co-Chair Patrick Donlon have started a petition drive asking the district to review its construction plans.

The group alleges the district’s motive is to make the renovations appear to be necessary when, according to Burbach, they are not.

Originally opposed to renovations, Murphy has recently endorsed the need for renovations but not at the cost of filling in wetlands behind the school.

A majority of the District 5 board disagrees with Burbach and Donlon.

In a rebuttal to various letters published in the Chapin Times and Irmo News, the district says, “They say the district is only expandingChapinHigh Schoolto accommodate 1300 students. That is not true. If the district can ever get past the continued appeals blocking construction, the school will be renovated, modernized and expanded to an enrollment of 1700 students.”

The district has been making attempts to move forward with the renovations for over two years but legal action by board member Murphy has stymied those attempts.

Murphy has lost every legal appeal but continues to file more appeals to protect the wetlands areas behind CHS campus.

The district says, “They say the reason the district is not moving forward with theChapinHigh Schoolproject is to force the need for a new high school. That is not true. The project is being held up by numerous appeals and lawsuits by Kim Murphy costing taxpayers millions of dollars.”

To date, the delays in construction and legal costs have totaled over one million dollars according District Chief Financial Officer Karl Fulmer.