UPDATE: Hamilton County school board members reviewed updated recommendations for the district's facilities from the outside firm, MGT Consulting Group, this evening.
The updated, but still preliminary, report recommends a different option than the one first presented in July and decreases the number of schools to be closed as well as reduces the sizes of some schools from what was suggested in the first version of the report.
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Hamilton County school board members are expected to discuss updated recommendations for the district's facilities during a 5 p.m. meeting with MGT Consulting Group this evening.
The updates from MGT come after a round of raucous community forums last month, where parents and students responded passionately to MGT's first set of recommendations that were released last July.
The initial preliminary report identified more than $1.36 billion in capital needs across 74 district schools and recommended renovating 11 schools, adding to 10 schools, building new buildings for three schools, and closing 15 school buildings.
Search for the original recommendations for your school here.
Tonight's meeting is a school board work session, which will also include discussion about the agenda for Thursday's regular monthly school board meeting and potential conversation about Superintendent Bryan Johnson's contract, which the board moved to consider extending last fall.
School board members received a draft of MGT's updated recommendations last week and are meeting one-on-one with MGT representatives this afternoon.
The district is holding several meetings in the coming weeks to discuss both the updated recommendations and school zones in several areas of the county. For a list of those meetings, times and locations, click here.
Follow education reporter Meghan Mangrum for live coverage of this afternoon's meeting.
This is a developing story. Check back with the Times Free Press for updates.
Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.
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