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ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Rock Hill Schools Superintendent is stepping down just four years after taking the job.

Channel 9′s Jonathan Lowe spoke with that superintendent one-on-one about his decision.

Tommy Schmolze took the job back in 2021, coming in after a superintendent who quit one week into that school year.

ALSO READ: Rock Hill Schools names new superintendent after abrupt resignation one week into school year

After 32 years in education, Schmolze decided to step down at the end of the week.

“I have decided to announce that I’ll be retiring effective January 31st,” said Schmolze. “I knew this time would come; what I was hoping was to finish out the year, but I understand leadership transition.”

Including interim superintendents, there will now have been four leaders of this school district in four years.

The school board voted 6 to 1 to accept his resignation. Board Trustee Jennifer Hutchinson was the lone vote against it.

“I did not necessarily agree with the manner in which things were handled. I really care about Dr. Schmooze; I appreciate his leadership,” said Hutchinson.

Schmolze said he wasn’t fired or forced out; rather, he and the school board have been discussing the best way to transition to new leadership.

However, he admits leaving in the middle of the school year could be disruptive.

“I think it could, if not done right; we’ve done a really good job of preparing our leadership team for this moment,” Schmolze elaborated.

But Schmolze’s surprise announcement was not an eyebrow-raising moment. '

Board Trustee James Burns’ request for a district audit comes after Channel 9 revealed last month that the district was cutting several high-level positions to get more money in the classroom.

“I come to you tonight to ask for your help with an independent analysis of the Rock Hill Schools budget,” Burns said. “I, like many of you here, am ready to turn the page on some programs and positions that overlap, creating confusion and, most of all, time-consuming training.”

Channel 9 asked Schmolze if Burn’s request was related to his earlier-than-expected retirement. He said, as far as his future plans, this would be his last time working for a school district.

“Not interconnected at all,” Schmolze explained. “What I’ll be looking at doing is how to coach principals, how to coach superintendents, and how to coach leaders in public ed to keep the focus on the kids.”

Doctor John Jones, who is currently the deputy superintendent, will be taking over as interim superintendent while the school board conducts a national search for Schmolze’s replacement.

As for a districtwide audit, all of the board members voted in favor of it.

VIDEO: ‘Had to be made’: Rock Hill Schools says job cuts will get more money into classrooms

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Dilworth Neighborhood Grille is coming to Baxter Village in Fort Mill, with a neighborhood restaurant and bar setup mirroring its popular location in Charlotte.

“Same menu, same cups, same everything,” said owner and Baxter resident Matt Wohlfarth. “We’ve got something good going on, so why not duplicate it here?”

Dilworth Grille at Baxter will move into the former Killingtons and Beef ‘O’ Brady’s spot at 940 Market St. Killingtons, based in Huntersville, closed in December after six years in Baxter. Wohlfarth aims to open Dilworth Grille there by August.

The Charlotte location started two decades ago. It serves craft burgers, tacos, sandwiches and pizza. There’s also a breakfast menu. Options include traditional fare like wraps and salads to a waffle burger, baked spaghetti and crab cake Benedict.

The second location in Fort Mill is a milestone for the restaurant. It isn’t the first time Wohlfarth considered expanding the business, but the time and location finally felt right.

“I feel like every mistake that we could’ve made, we’ve already made,” he said. “So we’ll see.”

He’s eager to see another restaurant opening in Baxter before his, when Jekyll & Hyde Taphouse & Grill moves into 993 Market St., at the former Lucky Duck and Six Pence Pub space. Wohlfarth believes Jekyll & Hyde will offer a good gauge of community interest and support for new dining options.

Apart from location, the one difference between Dilworth’s Charlotte and Fort Mill locations will be size. In Charlotte, 65 employees work in a 20,000-square-foot space that can balloon from a typical service Tuesday to a massive weekend undertaking when sports are in town.

Fort Mill will be about 4,500 square feet and about 45 employees. Wohlfarth expects more consistent traffic, rather than big gameday rushes. He already has a chef, delivery driver and manager for the Baxter site. He’s looking at cooks now. He’d like to have employees hired 20 or 30 days before opening and can use the similar setup in Charlotte for training, so the Baxter site will be ready from the start.

While the COVID pandemic has strained the restaurant industry, it nearly created a second business through to-go and delivery ordering, Wohlfarth said. His Charlotte location is one of the top in the region for mobile ordering and delivery platforms, he said, with more than half of business coming that way. He expects something similar in Fort Mill.

“I feel like we’ll be every bit as big on those platforms,” Wohlfarth said.

For folks who haven’t tried the Charlotte spot, Wohlfarth describes Dilworth as a “catch all for a neighborhood restaurant bar.” He wants a comfortable, inviting spot that sponsors youth sports teams and hosts birthday parties, where parents can come over and unwind while their children attend dance class right across the street.

What could be a long, trafficky drive into Charlotte will be a five-minute walk to the Baxter spot for Wohlfarth. He’s hoping that same convenience will entice neighbors to try out the new location.

And for neighbors wondering, Wohlfarth isn’t expecting to bring his sign game to Baxter. The Charlotte location made news several times after comments on its sign out front about the Carolina Panthers or Charlotte Hornets. Sign comments have roasted the teams during losing stretches.

But area politicians or public figures in Fort Mill won’t get the same treatment in Baxter.

“Wouldn’t that be fun?” Wohlfarth asked. “I don’t think the Baxter people in charge would want that. But maybe a smaller one. An homage to it.”

The Herald

803-329-4076

John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie.

Federal funding cuts or new oversight procedures could impact how long Rock Hill region drivers spend stuck in traffic on Interstate 77, whether they get new sidewalks or how long safety improvements take on area roads.

President Donald Trump has enacted federal funding freezes and spending accountability measures since taking office in January. His Department of Government Efficiency, synonymous with billionaire Elon Musk, has announced widespread changes impacting jobs and government programs.

Those political changes haven’t gone unnoticed by one of the region’s biggest spenders of federal money.

“This will probably have some impacts in the months ahead,” said David Hooper, administrator of the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study.

While road projects already under construction shouldn’t face funding problems, concern remains over how to plan for new ones.

Some projects around the area have been in the planning stage for years, but haven’t started construction yet. Exit 82 in Rock Hill is the biggest example, along with studies to improve S.C. 49 in Lake Wylie and U.S. 521 in Indian Land.

Hooper’s group allocates federal transportation money for the urbanized area covering the eastern half of York County and the Lancaster County panhandle. That includes any large work off the interstate and major projects in Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Indian Land, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie.

His group is one of about 450 metropolitan planning organizations nationwide.

Last week, at a gathering of planning organizations in the Charlotte metro area, Hooper asked for that group to schedule an update from the Federal Highway Administration on any federal policy changes impacting transportation funding by the end of April.

“We are all hopeful for the next six to eight weeks that we can receive some concrete guidance,” he said.

The highest-profile projects in the Rock Hill region that use federal money are interchanges off I-77. They’re undergoing the biggest upgrade since the interstate was built 60 years ago.

A diverging diamond at Gold Hill Road (Exit 88) and a new interchange for what was once envisioned as the Carolina Panthers headquarters (Exit 81) opened in the past four years.

Exit 85, near Baxter and Kingsley in Fort Mill, is under construction. Exit 82, at Celanese and Cherry roads in Rock Hill, is in the planning stage. There’s also state money to study Exit 90 at Carowinds and future plans for Exit 77 upgrades in Rock Hill.

Combined, those projects could cost more than half a billion dollars.

Then, there’s U.S. 521, which runs the length of Lancaster County’s panhandle. It’s one of the busiest non-interstate roads in the state. There’s an ongoing study on how to upgrade Indian Land intersections along it, which could cost close to $100 million.

Federal money also pays for new sidewalks, bridges, bike lanes and other improvements.

Grants can be relatively small, or approach the more than $10 million Rock Hill received in a Reconnecting Communities Grant for a downtown pedestrian bridge over Dave Lyle Boulevard. Last fall, Chester County announced a more than $27 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant to upgrade rail lines there.

Hooper’s group receives about $12.4 million per year in federal funding. There’s another $3.5 million in federal air quality grant money. About $730,000 more comes in for sidewalk or pedestrian projects.

Hooper’s main focus, as he awaits details on how funding might change, is the I-77 interchange work.

Any presidential change can impact funding, Hooper said. But what’s unusual now is the increased federal level review for decisions that typically would be made between planning organizations and state transportation departments.

Hooper has been on several calls with a group that lobbies for planning organizations in Washington, he said.

“I think a lot of people are hopeful that this is just a transitional recalibration and not a real shift in agency posture,” Hooper said. “But this is still very much an evolving story.”

Large road projects already take years, sometimes decades, to complete due to reams of environmental, utility, right-of-way and other approvals required before construction can begin. The larger the project, like interchange work, the more paperwork is required.

“There’s a lot of federal decision documents that are a part of that type of project,” Hooper said. “So those are the ones that are drawing our attention right now.”

Delays are critical for roads. Construction material and labor costs increase, as they did dramatically with the COVID pandemic. Some large federal projects, or county jobs through York County’s Pennies for Progress sale tax program, have more than doubled in cost in recent years.

Hooper and his staff aren’t federal employees, but many people they work with are. There’s concern that federal or non-federal job losses related to transportation funding could slow the approval process and ultimately increase job costs.

Hooper doesn’t anticipate problems with projects like Exit 85 in Fort Mill, where construction is well underway. By the construction start, funding has been obligated by a planning organization, state and the Federal Highway Administration.

“Funding is generally considered to be viewed as stable at that point,” Hooper said. “If there were a reversal after that point, that would set a new precedent.”

Projects like Exit 82 in Rock Hill, though, are worth watching. Hooper expects more details on how federal policy might impact transportation projects as annual budgets are formed through the summer and fall.

There are also transportation grants that focus on historically under-served populations. Grants might provide sidewalks, bike lanes or other additions.

With the White House naming Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs in a January executive order as “illegal and immoral discrimination” that won’t be used in future funding decisions, it’s possible some funding could be disqualified by the same criteria that got it awarded.

“When you’ve got those additional layers for some grants, the current political landscape may be impacting that,” Hooper said. “We’re all going to have to wait and see.”

The Herald

803-329-4076

John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie.

Nearly 80% of February’s million-dollar property sales across the Rock Hill region involved home purchases. That rate amplifies two noticeable trends in the area.

Massive sales like apartment complexes, manufacturing sites, warehouses and investment properties have dwindled in recent months. Meanwhile, more million-dollar home sales happen seemingly month over month.

February had 18 home sales at $1 million or more, according to York, Lancaster and Chester county land records. Only five other sales topped $1 million, and one of them was a multi-lot deal for a new home neighborhood.

In February of last year, about 52% of the million-dollar sales were home deals. Two years ago, less than 38% of February million-dollar sales were homes.

The value of big deals has shifted, too.

This year, 69% of the total property value from all million-dollar sales in February came from home sales. Last year that February number was 43%. Two years ago it was 12%.

Historically, February isn’t as busy a month for big deals compared to the summer. And any massive apartment or industrial site deal, whenever it happens, can dramatically shift ratios.

The increase in expensive homes and decrease in everything else on the high end, though, have been steady in the past year.

Here’s a look at the biggest February deals:

▪ The Rock Hill region’s 18 home sales at $1 million or more is up from 11 sales in January. The latest deals are concentrated in Fort Mill, where there were a dozen. Rock Hill added three more, Indian Land two and Clover one.

Three deals hit $1.5 million or more, and the two most expensive sales were on opposite sides of Rock Hill. A 4,700-square-foot Williamson Road home in southwest Rock Hill sold for more than $1.8 million.

The 2008 home sits on nearly 30 acres. A more than 5,200-square-foot Lake Wylie Drive home in Rock Hill, off Mt. Gallant Road and on Lake Wylie, sold for $1.7 million. It was built in 2003.

Use the map below for more information on February million-dollar home sales, plus others so far this year:

▪ More the 5 acres at 9410 Charlotte Highway in Indian Land sold Feb. 14 for $2.3 million. The property sits on the east side of Charlotte Highway, north of Thousand Oaks Road. It’s a former home, now zoned for commercial development. Charlotte-based Mana Capital bought the site.

▪ Nearly 6 acres of Lancaster light industrial property sold Feb. 24 for $2.3 million. Lancaster-based SMG LLC bought the more than 41,000-square-foot facility at 1950 W. Meeting St. That’s where Synteen Technical Fabrics has been in operation. The industrial site was built in 1999.

▪ Homebuilder Taylor Morrison bought 11 home lots in Indian Land in its Sugar Creek development off Harrisburg Road. The lots off Baker Creek Avenue and Calico Branch, Indigo Branch and Sugar Creek roads are part of larger subdivision development in the northern panhandle. Taylor Morrison bought the sites Feb. 24 for $1.9 million.

▪ Greenville-based Forsberg LLC bought a more than 13,000-square-foot warehouse at 338 Springhill Farm Road in Fort Mill for $1.4 million. The Feb. 11 sale involves fewer than 2 acres and the warehouse built in 1998. Recent building tenants include a glass company, title loan store, air conditioning repair place and a cigar shop. It’s just east of Interstate 77, near the North Carolina state line.

▪ A Tega Cay resident bought more than 75 acres of undeveloped Lake Wylie property Feb. 3 for $1.2 million. The parcel is between Oakridge and Stateline roads, less than half a mile south of the North Carolina state line.

The Herald

803-329-4076

John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie.

The latest plans for a much-anticipated new 105-acre park in Rock Hill show sports fields, playgrounds, a food truck area, amphitheater seating and ponds with a boardwalk trail.

The city applied to rezone most of the property for what’s for now called Southside Regional Park, which will span from Heckle Boulevard to Main Street. That application prompted a concept plan showing where certain features might go.

The city plans to add more property to the park. When complete it could be about twice the size of other landmark sport sites in the city, in Cherry Park and Manchester Meadows.

The layout and land uses aren’t final, but the plan offers the latest glimpse into city plans for the site. The project will cost an estimated $40 million. A current cost opening timeline from the city wasn’t immediately available.

The largest developed area would go just north of the American Legion Post 34 on Heckle Boulevard. A full-size baseball field would have seating for up to 600 spectators. Two youth baseball fields and an amphitheater would be beside it.

Four more fields in a clover leaf design could be used for various sports.

They each have space for a small football field, a large baseball field or up to three smaller baseball or softball fields. Each of the clover leaf fields would have seating for up to 250 spectators.

The concept plan also shows two basketball courts, pickleball courts, two playground areas, two shelters with restrooms, nine covered batting cages in two spots, grassy overflow parking or event space, ponds with a boardwalk, concession stands and nearly 700 paved parking spaces in the main area.

Across a stream, there’s another section of the park near Sidney, Florence and Morgan streets.

The plan shows two full-size football fields with seating for 800 spectators. There’s a ticket booth, turf warm-up area and concession stand.

Three more basketball courts and a community building off Florence Street sit just beside where the park will connect to a future development phase.

Though the final layout isn’t confirmed, it’s close to set, city parks and recreation director Mark Sexton said in an online update last month. “The concept is really in place,” he said. “I think our community has spoken about some of the things they want to see in that park.”

In addition to park features, the property will connect to Rock Hill’s ambitious Storyline project.

Storyline is an urban linear park that connects attractions, landmarks and gathering spots from Winthrop University to Fountain Park. It will add a large pedestrian bridge across Dave Lyle Boulevard downtown, paid for by a more than $10 million federal grant.

The city owns the Southside Regional Park properties up for rezoning. They include Arcade Park, public works space, trails and vacant property.

The city Planning Commission will review the zoning request Tuesday. Rock Hill City Council will make the final decision.

This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 12:35 PM.

The Herald

803-329-4076

John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie.