By ANNA BROWN

Derrick Means didn’t get to earn his high school diploma from Jonesville High School.

The Union County Board of School Trustees voted to consolidate Jonesville, Lockhart and Union high schools and Means spent his senior year at Union County High School and became a member of the first graduating class there in 2008.

Now, Means says, someone is trying to alter his educational path again. He is a freshman at USC-Union and Gov. Mark Sanford has proposed closing the school as part of the new state budget.

“To me, the governor is making a huge mistake,” said Means, 19, who has cerebral palsy. “The economy is down. If it weren’t for USC-Union I don’t know where these students would go. It’s sad. It’s awful.”

Means said he chose USC-Union because he thought it presented an opportunity to learn and grow and it was a good place to use the LIFE Scholarship he won. A business major, he hopes one day to own his own sporting goods store. He’s become involved in activities at USC-Union, including playing the bongos in the Union Music Club band and being a member of the African American Association.

Means said he loves the environment at the school, including that his teachers and fellow students are always willing to help him.

“If USC-Union goes, then these kids will have to drive 30 to 50 miles to school when here we have a good school right here in our back yard,” he said. “I feel the faculty and staff, students and parents and all of Union County have been slapped in the face. I feel like all that power has gone to Gov. Mark Sanford’s head and somebody needs to call a timeout.”