SC Top Court Rules in Favor of District 5 in Chapin High Case

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled Wednesday in favor of Lexington-Richland Five in the latest appeal concerning renovations at Chapin High School.

In the case Kim Murphy vs. School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), the state Supreme Court upheld a lower court's order to uphold DHEC’s issuance of a Water Quality Certification to District 5.

Murphy had appealed court rulings allowing the district to move forward with a .

Murphy's appeals called for the district to refrain "from any irreversible damage to the protected headwaters stream" located on the property. 

This stream is part of an unnamed tributary that flows into Wateree Creek, according to court documents. 

The stream was classified by the Army Corps of Engineers as waters of the United States. Because of that classification, the district was required to obtain a Water Quality Certification from DHEC. 

The district’s original proposed plans for Chapin High, which included increasing the number of practice fields and parking lots, would have required filling 1,501 feet of the stream. 

The district said it reduced that number to 727 feet and eliminated one of the three proposed practice fields as well as reduced the number of proposed parking spaces. 

Seeing that the district’s plan with the modifications didn’t permanently alter the aquatic ecosystem in the area, DHEC approved the plan. 

Chapin High, which was built in 1971, was designed to hold 600 students. The district proposes expanding the school to accommodate 1,700 students. 

The district held a groundbreaking ceremony in December and is currently performing site prepartion work at the school.