NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. () – New baseball and softball fields are coming to North Augusta High School. But this means the band is losing storage space and some parents aren’t happy.

“It’s very frustrating, because the students put in a lot of hours for practice to put these shows together,” said Carl Womack.

The frustration is because North Augusta’s band is losing its storage space due to the construction. Womack is among parents who have volunteered to store some of the equipment in his own backyard.

Parents sent a letter to the Aiken County School Board after attempts to relocate on campus were denied by Principal John Murphy. In that letter, parents say Principal Murphy denied any on campus locations, reasoning that “a location would be in a fire lane, to the bad drainage in another area, to just being in the way of other programs.” They also say Murphy is only willing to pay for half of the costs to their store, which amount to $420-600 per month.

The bulk of the equipment is being stored at a property on Wire Road. The drive from that location to the school is between 30-40 minutes. With this in mind, parents say the cost for storage off campus is through the roof.

“The ramifications for that would be more than $30,000 a year for storage far away. That wouldn’t just include the storage, but the gas to get there,” said Maggie Lewis-Howell.

NewsChannel 6 reached out to the Aiken County School District, and they provided the following statement:

The band program at North Augusta High School is among the most impressive in the state. We are extremely proud of the talent and dedication of each student member of the Jacket Regiment and are grateful for the band booster’s strong support from families and the community. 

While North Augusta High School’s new campus is extraordinary, the multi-year construction project has not come without difficulties and inconveniences. Reconstructing an entire new school campus on an existing fully occupied campus has required patience and flexibility. 

The band’s current area for storage was never intended to be a permanent solution as it is the location designated for baseball and softball fields. Years ago, the band program was permitted to temporarily store props and other equipment there with the understanding that an alternative storage location would be necessary prior to construction beginning for the school’s new athletic fields. 

Major construction for the band program was recently completed and includes a new 4,000 square foot classroom space, storage areas, a 100-yard practice field, and a band instructional tower. This project was deliberately planned for construction to wrap up prior to the baseball-softball complex reconstruction. 

North Augusta High School’s baseball and softball teams have for many years played off campus at Lions Field, and we are looking forward to breaking ground on their new complex in the coming weeks. 

The band program’s containers and/or the props and miscellaneous items being stored in and around those containers must be relocated ahead of reconstruction of the athletic fields. Land space to relocate the band program’s storage containers is simply not available on campus without further contributing to a parking area shortage or violating fire code. 

As we understand it, in addition to storage options within the band program’s recently constructed new storage areas and classroom, school administration has offered the band program other indoor storage space on campus and offered to help cover some of the cost of off-campus storage should the band program’s storage needs exceed what is currently available to them inside the school. 

District administration and our school board are committed to supporting the success of all schools, all students, and all student programs. Just last year, trustees approved a one-time allocation of funds to support band programs district wide. The Jacket Regiment alone received more than $145,000 for new instruments. 

Our schools also aim to balance support for arts and athletic programs. One such example is the new visitor side concessions at North Augusta High School, which is dedicated to the band booster club for fundraising during football and soccer season.  

We are extremely fortunate to have had the community’s support for upgraded facilities at North Augusta High School, and at a number of schools throughout the county. It is our hope that Jacket Regiment supporters will work together with school leaders to identify an appropriate temporary storage solution as we all look forward to the final phase of the school’s reconstruction which includes a new auditorium with built-in space for storage of large props and other band and arts program needs.”

“What we require, what we need is 700 square feet. That is it. There’s plenty of room on that campus to store these Conex boxes, but we’ve been met with resistance for every idea we’ve pitched to them,” said Womack.

“Our request is just to support us. Give us the needs that we need to help our students. Give us the space, the space is there–we’re just asking for the space,” said Lewis-Howell.

We will continue to follow this story.