BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Sullivan County school officials could close Bristol’s Akard Elementary before the next school year begins as part of a plan to pay back $15.4 million in bonds they’ll use to renovate Ketron Intermediate School.
The Sullivan County Commission unanimously approved the Ketron bond issue during a called meeting Wednesday. The money will be used to add 23 classrooms to Ketron’s campus, which is north of Kingsport in the Bloomingdale community.
Accounts and Budgets Director Larry Bailey said payments on the bonds could cost the county about $100,000 a month for the next 17 years. The first of these payments could be due in February, Bailey said, but nothing is definite until the bonds are sold.
Last week, the Sullivan County Board of Education announced tentative plans to pay the bonds back with money it could save by closing Akard, which is off state Route 126 between Bristol and Blountville, along with Cedar Grove and Kingsley elementary schools, both also in Bloomingdale.
“It’s hard for any community to close down schools,” said Commissioner Terry Harkleroad, who represents Bloomingdale. “But I believe if we’re going to move forward as a county then we’ve got to make some tough decisions.”
After Wednesday’s meeting, Director of Schools Jack Barnes said the 46-year-old Akard would likely be the first of the three targeted schools to close because there’s space for its 130 students at Blountville Elementary School.
He said the 520 students at Cedar Grove and Kingsley would go to the newly renovated Ketron when that school is finished in about 2½ years. Although the board hasn’t given the plan to close Akard final approval, Barnes said they need to move forward as soon as possible because the bond payments start coming due in three months.
Originally, school officials thought the payments wouldn’t start coming due until August 2011, but the state changed that date as it got ready to sell the bonds.
Closing Akard could save the school system about $250,000 a year, Barnes said, while closing Cedar Grove and Kingsley would bring the total annual savings to $1 million.
Barnes also said so far he’s heard mostly positive feedback about the overall plans to renovate Ketron and pay back the $15 million bond issue.
But a few commissioners, especially those from Bristol, said Wednesday they’ve heard a few concerns from some of their constituents.
“People in other districts are asking, ‘when will we renovate their schools?’ ” said Commissioner Mark Vance, who represents Bristol.
He added that the school system needs to have a long-term plan to build new schools and renovate existing ones throughout the county because “$15 million is not going to touch the breadth of what we need to do for our school system.”
Hoping to ease these concerns, Barnes said the Ketron project is just the beginning of the school system’s plans to upgrade its facilities. Those plans involve adding six classrooms to Emmett Elementary School’s campus near the Hickory Tree community outside of Bristol. The extra space would be used to house students who currently attend Valley Pike Elementary, which is just east of the Bristol city limits near U.S. Highway 421. Board members hoped to fund the project with money from the Qualified School Construction Bonds program this summer, Barnes said, but got the money for the Ketron renovations instead.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
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