Akard Elementary School could close before next school year
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.
| (276) 645-2518
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
I am sad to see Akard close as I went to school there, but it is well past time to close this school. The district around the school has been annexed by the city and continues to be taken up. The school sits less than 1 mile outside of city limits and in some directions less than half a mile, Akard is a great school but it does not make good business sense to keep it open when some of its closest residents are not even eligible to go there as they are city of Bristol residents.
I attended Akard in the seventies, and if I remember correctly we had around 500 or so students. There were 3 classes at most grade levels, and it seems there were 25 or so per class. If the student population is that low, I wonder what they’re doing with all the space. Akard’s zone used to go all the way to the old city limits (for instance, kids who lived near the old hospital attended Akard). As an educator I see the appeal of small schools, but eventually if one school gets too small it just doesn’t pay to keep it open. It sounds, though, like Blountville could quickly become crowded if the population spikes a little. Several school here in Washington DC closed a couple of years ago, and I don’t know what we’ll do if things improve and more young parents start sending their kids to public schools. It’s a complicated situation, and I’m glad I’m not on the school board.
yeah, we need to shove the akard kids to blountville. who needs classes that are NOT overcrowded? who needs classes where theres more one on one time with each kid?
Bigger is not always better. In smaller classrooms the teachers are able to give each child more one on one attention. Blountville is already crowded. My children are doing very well in school right now, but when they are uprooted and put in an over crowded enviroment I just don’t know how they will do. The more people the more distractions. What about the children who need that extra attention this definitely is not going to help it will put them further behind. They are talking about leaving Brookside open with only K-2. Also in the other article it says closing Brookside would save them 281,000 which is more than what closing Akard would save them. It is also in Kingport where Ketron is. Why not close it instead? The majority of our school board is from Kingsport.
According to the article they aren’t going to close Akard until the end of the school year so they will be finishing the school year there.
I am sure that this is an excruciating decision for the board and I empathize with the parents whose children go to Akard. It is never easy to move/uproot children, but they are very risilient and they are all moving together so they will still be with the friends that they have always been with and will make new ones. My family moved when I was growing up and I had to change schools in 3rd grade and although it was tough for a little while I adjusted and was fine..and so will these children.
One of the reasons that Akard is always listed is because there are so few students that attend the school. There are only 130 students at this elementary school. Most elementary schools have many many more students and while your children are no less important than those that go to larger schools, it just makes sense to close a school that costs them so much to run for so few students.
You children will go to a larger school with more opportunities. It wont be as small and cozy as Akard but it will be more diverse and will open them up to more things and people.
I wish each and every parent and child the best and I hope the transition for you all goes smoothly. Speak only of the positives to your children, the more anxiety you show them about it..the more they will feel.
I attended Akard in the 3rd grade the first year it opened. Mr. Lacy was principal then. It’s a lot newer then Blountville elem. I went there in 2nd grade. It’s the distance and time that the closing will force kids to go for school plus how the change will affect them. And as the other comments said about finishing the year out, let them finish at the least! I’m guessing none of the school board have kids or grandkids at Akard. I must say I was a little thrown off that there is only 130 students there.
The school needs to be closed. There is not enough kids attending the school to justify the expenses. I say close it ASAP.
This is just crap! It sounds like the school board has already decided what they are going to do without even talking to the staff, parents, or students of Akard. THE LEAST THEY COULD DO IS LET THEM FINISH THIS YEAR AT AKARD. I hope the board members are considering that they are elected officials and are supposed to listen to the people in the community. When are they planning on meeting with the staff, parents, and community of Akard?
I do not understand why AKARD is always on the “black list” to close !! Yes Blountville Elementary may have room I don’t know where !!! Sounds to me ~it all depends on what district the “money” is in,my grand-daughters , my son and neices have all went to and currently going to Akard and it is an awsome school….Shame on the school board for NOT in forming Mr. Booker (the principal) of its’ plans again to close, he had to read the headlines in the paper last week just like evryone else ! Maybe renovating the schhol in Kingsport will help them but it DOES NOT DO ANYTHING FOR BRISTOL except disrupt the community, the kids and cause mass upset ! What we need is a “new school board” not a new school !
Advertisement