Gov. Mark Sanford will speak out today against the Beaufort County School District's choice for a new high school north of the Whale Branch River, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Sanford plans to sign into law this morning a bill that would eliminate minimum acreage requirements for the state's public schools and encourage the growth of neighborhood schools, Will Folks, the governor's spokesman said. The legislation seeks to discourage school districts from building schools in rural areas like the land north of the Whale Branch River.

"I think he's basically going to say here's an increasingly remote mega-school," Folks said of Sanford's opinion of the proposed $28.7 million high school planned for the corner of Keans Neck Road and U.S. 21. "He's basically going to rail on it."

Sanford has publicly opposed the school site in a January 2002 letter to the editor in The Beaufort Gazette. In that letter he stated building the school north of the Whale Branch would mean more time on buses for students from south of the river, which would cost taxpayers unneeded money and take away from time children could be doing other, more important things.

Building the school north of the river also would be against the county's comprehensive plan, Sanford wrote, a planning document intended to guide future growth. The governor did not say he opposed growth north of the Whale Branch, where he and his family own more than 1,000 acres, but said building a school there is not the way to do it.

"The state and Beaufort County should address the real economic need of many wonderful people north of the river, but making a kid sit long in a bus as Beaufort's way of forging economic development is a price far too dear," Sanford wrote. Folks said Sanford would not comment on the issue Tuesday. Sanford also could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Sanford and his family own about 1,156 acres near the Keans Neck Road site, most south of the site, along the Whale Branch River, according to county documents. Sanford's mother owns some of that land, some of it is in his name and some is owned jointly by the family.

The Keans Neck site has faced opposition from several sources, including the Coastal Conservation League, the Greater Beaufort Chamber of Commerce, Beaufort Mayor Bill Rauch and several County Council members. Opponents say building the school north of the river would violate the comprehensive plan and cause sprawl. Permits needed for a wastewater treatment plant the district wants to build because the rural site does not have sewer access, may be difficult to get.

Despite opposition, school district officials are planning to submit applications to build on the Keans Neck site this month. Building the 1,500-student school north of the river supports the district's concept of neighborhood schools, district spokesman John Williams said Tuesday, even though the area is rural.

"I think a neighborhood school should serve the neighborhood, and not mean busing rural students extra miles to a downtown-area building," Williams said. "I think our approach with having schools closest to the community they serve is what our students, parents and community expect and need."