Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Justin Robertson presented an updated school facilities plan that calls for campus closures and expansions at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting.
The proposal, which is similar to those unveiled by a Hamilton County working group in August, recommends improvements to seven school buildings and includes a priority list. Depending on which options board members approve, it could cost between $200 million and $260 million.
“We have to make decisions to get as many kids in buildings that are good,” Robertson said. “This recommendation is doing exactly that, within a limited dollar amount, the greatest impact that we can have.”
The $50 million proposal for the Gateway building at U.S. 27 and West M.L. King Boulevard calls for relocating the Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts there.
The idea would be to create a school for grades six-12 with two pathways: one for fine arts and another for career and technical education. The additional middle school seats would allow for the phased-out closure of Howard Connect, a no-zone magnet school that shares a campus with The Howard School, which would help relieve the overcrowding at Howard.
Staff Photo by Shannon Coan / Community members attend a Hamilton County school board meeting Thursday. Superintendent Justin Robertson presented an updated school facilities plan at the meeting.School Board Member Karitsa Jones, D-Chattanooga, said she could not understand why a choice school, not a traditional zoned school, is on the top of the priority list. She criticized the Hamilton County Commission for trying to tell the school board what to do with its students.
“I feel like other priorities or other person’s priorities are trumping our priorities,” she said. “I can’t support Gateway because I feel like — as oftentimes I’m starting to see in this current administration in the county — that our schools are being used as pawns to get what people want, and I can’t keep supporting that …. I do not feel that children should be political pawns, for political agendas, when all they want to do is go to school in a building that’s nice where they can learn.”
Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp has pushed for the Gateway building to be used as a career and technical school since the county expressed interest in the property in May.
Robertson said the Gateway building was his top priority because it affects the greatest number of students in the county.
Board members also raised concerns that having the Gateway renovation first on the priority list could lead to the county running out of money before other projects are funded.
“I’m all for a truly impressive building there,” School Board Member Marco Perez, I-Signal Mountain, said. “I don’t want us to focus on that and then run out of money for the other projects that are equally as important. They’re important to those communities.”
He said addressing the needs at schools whose buildings are falling apart, including Clifton Hills Elementary, Rivermont Elementary and Soddy Daisy Middle, should be higher on the priority list.
Robertson said he feels confident this first recommendation is doable within the bond issue the Hamilton County Commission has talked about. He added he put the proposals for Thrasher Elementary and the former Cigna building near the bottom of the priority list because he believes the district can operate, as is, without those two projects.
The largest change in the updated facilities plan is for what might happen with Soddy Daisy Middle. The updated facilities plan puts forth two options for that school. The first suggests renovating Soddy Daisy High in order to create a six-12 campus and would cost $25-30 million. The other proposes building a new Soddy Daisy Middle on its existing site and would cost $50-60 million.
Staff Photo by Shannon Coan / Community members attend a Hamilton County school board meeting Thursday. Superintendent Justin Robertson presented an updated school facilities plan at the meeting.School Board Member Rhonda Thurman, R-Hixson, whose district includes the Soddy-Daisy schools, reiterated her desire for Soddy Daisy Middle to get a new building and expressed her frustration that the rebuild option moves it to close to the bottom of the priority list.
“I have not talked to one person in Soddy-Daisy that thinks this is a good idea,” she said, referring to the six-12 campus. “Kids just want a nice, new school … We’re not asking for a lot here.”
Several of the proposals for elementary schools mention expanding them to hold 800 students. District officials have previously said elementary schools with around 600 to 800 students hit the sweet spot for school size.
The board is expected to vote on final proposals early next year.
Other facilities proposals:
— Combine Alpine Crest, Rivermont and DuPont elementary schools at either the existing DuPont elementary site or the former Red Bank Middle site on Dayton Boulevard. Extra capacity at Red Bank and Hixson elementary schools would be used to keep the school’s population between 650 and 800 students. ($35-40 million)
— Combine Brainerd High and Dalewood Middle to create a co-located middle-high school at an expanded and renovated Brainerd High campus. ($25-30 million)
— Build a new Clifton Hills Elementary on the current site that can hold 800 students. ($35-40 million)
— Expand Thrasher Elementary to hold 800 students. ($15-20 million)
— Renovate the former Cigna building into a K-2 primary school serving the East Brainerd Elementary zone. ($15-20 million)
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.