Hamilton County School board member Rick Smith talks about zoning issues to accommodate students in the east part of the county. “East Hamilton is already overcrowded,” Smith said.
Staff Photo by Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free PressHamilton County school board members grappled Tuesday with growing pains as more families move into the county but find less space in some schools to accommodate their children.
Overriding all those concerns at a meeting of the board’s Facilities Committee was a question about the bottom line: How much will it cost to build schools and how will the county pay for them?
The current plan involves closing 11 schools, building six schools and building additions to four. Mike Evatt, chairman of the Facilities Committee, said he hopes that committee members would identify the top four items on the facilities list presented at Tuesday’s meeting as a priority, which he said would cost an estimated $50 million.
Those projects are:
* Building an elementary school south of Apison Pike and west of Ooltewah-Ringgold Road to replace the existing East Brainerd Elementary School.