After more than a year of discussions around improving school facilities, the Hamilton County school board voted Thursday to move forward with five school projects.
The five projects — which the district intends to work on at the same time — will impact at least seven school communities and lead to three campus closures.
“This is a celebratory vote, I think,” Board Chair Joe Smith, R-Hixson, said. “I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Hamilton County school board members voted 9-0 to approve the construction process for the projects. School board members Jill Black, D-Chattanooga, and Ben Connor, D-Chattanooga, were absent.
Most of the projects align with those the board ranked at the top of its facilities priorities list in January.
School facilities plan
— Renovate former BlueCross BlueShield building off West M.L. King Boulevard into a career and technical center for high school students modeled after the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center. ($15 million)
— Renovate and build an addition for Clifton Hills Elementary. This plan is pending community feedback. ($36 million)
— Renovate existing Soddy Daisy Middle and build additional space. ($30 million)
— Combine Alpine Crest, Rivermont and DuPont elementary schools in a new building at the DuPont Elementary site, as well as rezone the area to ensure enrollment is at 650-800 students. ($51 million)
— Renovate Brainerd High to create a campus that includes Dalewood Middle students. ($36 million)
Source: Hamilton County Schools
The largest change is the decision to turn a former BlueCross BlueShield building on West M.L. King Boulevard into a career and technical education center. Board members in January had recommended that the building be renovated into a middle-high school with two pathways — one for fine arts and another for career and technical education. The Center for Creative Arts would have also been relocated to the site.
That plan changed last month after a facilities report was released saying it would cost more than $80 million.
Under the plan approved Thursday, the building will be renovated into a career center for high school students that is modeled after the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center, where multiple schools send students to learn skills for a variety of career fields.
For Clifton Hills Elementary, the specifics of the construction plan will be decided after the district hosts a community meeting to get feedback on the options presented in a facilities report.
The report suggested either renovating parts of the school’s existing building and replacing the portable classrooms with a new classroom wing or replacing the portable classrooms at Clifton Hills with a new classroom wing at East Side Elementary.
If the school board decides to build on Clifton Hills’ campus, students would need to be taken out of the portable classrooms and placed in the main building during construction, Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Justin Robertson said earlier this month. It’s doable, he said, but conditions during that 18-month period would be tight, which the district wants to ensure parents understand before moving ahead.
Together, the five projects are estimated to cost $168 million, but those numbers could change. Hamilton County commissioners dedicated $187 million to major school projects in their August bond issue.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County Schools meets expectations for year over year student improvement)
As part of their facilities plan vote, board members also approved letting the district work with county government to develop a construction manager process in which the contractor is involved in design and construction and commits to keeping the project within a guaranteed maximum price.
Thursday’s vote also gave the district permission to use up to $100,000 from the district’s fund balance to hire architects to explore options for seven school facility projects. The projects are ones the district thinks may come next as it continues its efforts to improve facilities.
The district believes getting an architect involved early to explore options at school properties will make the process more transparent and is a very effective use of funds, Robertson said.
The seven school projects include exploring options for:
— Facility upgrades at Normal Park and a possible K-12 pathway
— Using the remainder of the space at the former BlueCross building
— Upgrades to the Center for Creative Arts’ current building
— Expanding elementary school space on Signal Mountain
— Facilities upgrades at Orchard Knob Middle
— Renovating the former Dalewood Middle campus in order to relocate Barger Elementary
— Renovating the Cigna building to provide relief for East Brainerd Elementary through pre-kindergarten expansion or other opportunities.
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.