Members of the Hamilton County school board considered how to solve school overcrowding problems and the best use of facilities at a meeting this week.
Monday was the board’s first discussion about facilities since it hosted a series of community meetings to gather input on the plan’s recommendations. The two-phase, seven-year plan calls for campus closures and renovations in the interest of lowering maintenance costs by having fewer buildings.
The plan is not final and is subject to the will of the school board, which is responsible for approving construction projects and zoning changes.
Much of the discussion focused on how to use the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee’s Golden Gateway site, which the district purchased earlier this year.
“We’ve got a building. We’ve got to use it,” School Board Member Marco Perez, I-Signal Mountain, said. “I don’t want those to sit unused for the next 10 years.”
School board members did not reach a clear consensus on how the 185,000-square-foot building should be utilized. Some said the Gateway building would be a good space to address overcrowding at downtown schools, while others said it should be a zoned school.
A few potential options were raised, including having Howard Connect and the Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts share the building.
“That’s really not a workable option,” Superintendent Justin Robertson said.
Robertson said he didn’t think that was the best use of the building, in part, because it doesn’t address the desire for the building to have some connection to career and technical education.
Part of the complexity with deciding the building’s future comes from county and city officials’ push for it to be used as a career and technical school to continue the legacy of the long-shuttered Kirkman Technical High School.
In a statement Tuesday, County Mayor Weston Wamp said through a spokesperson his administration will continue that push.
“We have not wavered in our commitment, and the county plans to fund the redevelopment of the facility in early 2024,” he said.
Roughly three weeks ago, the Chattanooga City Council and Hamilton County Commission approved a special tax district for development on the city’s Westside. As part of that vote, both bodies approved an amendment allowing the city to pull back up to $32 million in city tax revenue created by the project from education funding if Hamilton County Schools doesn’t use the money to build a career and technical school.
That money would be on top of the city’s typical education funding, and the school board is not required to accept it.
“CCA checks all of the boxes to get the extra money because of the needs of the school, for the value of the location and for the ability to use it,” School Board Member Ben Connor, D-Chattanooga, said.
Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts added four career and technical pathways this year and doesn’t need space for athletic programs, he said.
School Board Member Karitsa Jones, D-Chattanooga, raised concerns about magnet school students getting resources before those in traditional school settings.
“Historically, that’s what happened. The magnet schools, the new programs, get the new schools … and the schools that are in the traditional settings continue to stay where they are,” she said. “It’s disheartening for children who have no choice but to go where they are.”
School size
Parents and staff, especially those whose elementary schools are under threat of closing or expanding, have been particularly vocal — including families in the Hixson area and South Chattanooga worried about losing their neighborhood schools.
Elementary schools with around 600 to 800 students hit the sweet spot for school size, district officials said.
School board members expressed support for consolidating two elementary schools in the Hixson area, not the three the facilities plan originally recommended, to ensure the school stayed within the proposed range and to accommodate future growth.
The facilities plan also proposed expanding East Side and East Lake elementary schools to accommodate for the closure of Clifton Hills Elementary.
“This probably doesn’t make sense the way that it was proposed,” Robertson said.
In order to keep elementary school enrollment within the proposed range, the district would need to rezone a large portion of downtown, affecting around 1,400 families, he said.
(READ MORE: Parents seek to prevent closure, expansion of South Chattanooga elementary schools)
Officials recommended the closure of Clifton Hills Elementary due to the age of the building, overcrowding and its location in a flood zone.
“The current status of the building of Clifton Hills, in my opinion, is not worthy of the students of Hamilton County,” Perez said. “The facilities there need a drastic investment.”
School Board Member Jill Black, D-Lookout Mountain, said community feedback made it clear the neighborhood served by Clifton Hills Elementary needs to have a school within walking distance. Around 50% of Clifton Hills students walk to school, she said.
“When you look at just the numbers, it doesn’t make sense to dismantle a school just to immediately have the other two schools completely full and then have to drop back and possibly build a new school anyway,” Black said.
Board members said they would explore other potential solutions, such as looking for a place to build on campus or at a new property.
Keeping a school in Red Bank
School board members also expressed support for ensuring Red Bank has an elementary school. Alpine Crest, which is one of several options for consolidation, is the only elementary school within city limits.
“I’m not going to let there not be an elementary school in Red Bank,” said Connor, who represents the area.
(READ MORE: Red Bank proposes alternative location for consolidated elementary school)
Officials recommended the consolidation, in part, to address the aging school buildings — some of which are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We can’t talk about community without including students who require ADA compliance,” Perez said. “Anything that we do moving forward should ensure that all students have a place to belong. All students can participate in the activities of that school.”
The board will discuss the remaining proposals at a meeting next Monday.
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.