Parents are asking what’s the rush for Knox County Schools to vote Oct. 4 to spend almost $5 million to buy roughly 41 acres on Boring Road (behind the old Ingles) from Doug and Brenda Horne for $4,892,500. The purchase is recommended by the superintendent.
The discussion is centered on a Facebook page, Farragut School Families, a closed group.
Following our September 28 story by Tom King, school board member Susan Horn posted the notice. To decode
- FHS is Farragut High School
- FMS is Farragut Middle School
- FIS is the intermediate school (grades 3-5)
- FPS is the primary school, located on Campbell Station Road near the library (grades K-2).
Statement from Susan Horn
Next week the Board of Education will be considering the purchase of property right behind Ingle’s. The purchase of this land offers a solution to the overcrowding in each school, without rezoning any students.
Susan Horn
The proposal is to build a new middle school. Then the old middle school would become FIS, and FIS would then house FPS. A determination of what to do with the current FPS building will be made down the road.
It takes a year to design a new building and usually 2 years to build it, so this will be quite a process. This solution will get rid of portables. That’s the purpose of building a new building. I’m not sure what grades will be in each current building, but the capacity is there.
Lastly, the increasing capacity issues at FHS will be addressed.
Part of the reason the Superintendent decided not to recommend the McFee property (our story here) for a new elementary school was to try to locate a property that could offer a long-term solution to all the schools in Farragut.
Even though we’re already out of space and need a new building yesterday, I’m thrilled that this will offer a long-term solution for every grade band in Farragut.
Traffic issues on the hill will improve since elementary grades and high schools have offset times. The Town of Farragut is currently implementing new traffic camera systems that should improve traffic flow.
The BOE is set to discuss the land purchase on Monday, Oct. 2, and vote on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
If approved, the administration will present a more detailed plan to the BOE on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 5 p.m. and a town hall in Farragut will be held after that. We’re working on a date.
Thank you for posting your questions and hopefully all these can be addresses at the future town hall.
Reaction
The post got 141 reactions and 71 comments by end-of-day Friday.
The reactions were all positive, but the comments questioned whether this is the best plan.
The group is private (and I just got in this week and don’t want to be expelled), but the consensus seemed to be concern about giving up the current primary school when new residential developments are underway.
Many parents seemed to favor an elementary school (K-5) on the new property and making the existing primary school a K-5 also. This would free up the space now used by the intermediate school for use by the middle school and/or high school. These campuses are connected.
This is moving very fast for some reason. And it’s a decision for more than just parents of current students. Town planners should be involved. The decision made will be with Farragut for a long time.