Three Sullivan Schools Get “F” For Physical Condition

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Three east Sullivan County schools got an “F” when their physical condition was evaluated this summer.

A study released Thursday by the Partnership for Education Facilities Assessment reveals that Holston Valley Middle School, Valley Pike Elementary and Weaver Elementary are in “extremely poor condition with significant items in need of correction.”

The three schools scored below a 59 on the study, which rated each of the county’s 28 public schools on a scale of one to 100. The average score for all buildings was a 70, with some schools scoring as high as a 90.

“Any school that’s below a 70 has enough issues that it would warrant an investigation,” said Stacy Cox, an architect who worked on the school study.

The study’s results had some county and school officials – including County Director of Schools Jack Barnes and Commissioner Buddy King of Bristol – talking informally about consolidating a few of the county’s schools.

King said the two groups should take a long and hard look at the partnership’s two reports and come up with a list of schools that could be combined into either an existing building or a new school the county would build in the future. He said money that would normally be spent on repairing these schools could then be diverted into a fund the county could use to build the new school.

But while he seemed to agree with the plan, Barnes said the county should continue to maintain existing schools. Once the county made its list to consolidate and obtained the money to build new schools, he said, it would still take about three years to get a new one open.

“Everybody will have to take this, look at it and digest it,” County Mayor Steve Godsey said, adding both the county commission and board of education will discuss the study’s results over the next few weeks.

Cox and the study’s other contributors visited each of the county’s schools from May to July and graded them on several criteria, including structure, electrical and mechanical systems, and roof condition.

Weaver Elementary got a 56 on the study, which was the school system’s lowest score for an individual school. Holston Valley Middle and Valley Pike Elementary tied for second-to-last, with each getting 57 out of 100 points.

Located on Weaver Pike two miles south of the Bristol, Tenn., city limits, Weaver Elementary School was built in 1921 and last renovated in 1968. The school’s accessibility, roof and site condition got an “F” on the study, or a score of less than a 59.

The school received the low grades in part because it has no elevator, uses a coal-fired boiler for heat and has an 18-year-old roof over its gym. Reviewers also cited problems with Weaver’s parking lot, electrical panels, furniture, fixtures and the fact it has little if any room for expansion.

Holston Valley’s top issues were accessibility and its roof, while Valley Pike got an “F” based on accessibility, mechanical systems, roof and site condition.

Holston Valley and Valley Pike schools are just east of the Bristol city limits, on Carolina Avenue and U.S. Highway 421, respectively. The only other county school to get an “F” on the study was Kingsley Elementary, which is north of Kingsport on Bloomingdale Pike. Kingsley received 59 out of 100 points.

“There’s nothing that money can’t fix,” Cox said when asked how much it would cost to correct conditions at the county’s failing schools. Though on a cost-per-square-foot basis, Cox said, replacing some schools would be cheaper than repairing them.

In June 2007, the Sullivan County Commission spent $134,000 to hire the partnership to conduct a comprehensive study of its 28 public schools.

Phase I of the study, released in April, evaluated each school to see if its structural capacity was sufficient to handle enrollment projections over the next 10 years.

By 2018, enrollment at both Weaver and Valley Pike will exceed 90 percent of their functional capacity according to Phase I of the study. Enrollment at Holston Valley Middle is expected to hit 51 percent of that building’s capacity.

The partnership released the second and final phase of its study Thursday at a joint meeting of the county commission and board of education.

“We’ve done what we said we’d do,” County Mayor Steve Godsey said. “It will be up to the school board to determine what they will do.”

Barnes said he would present the study’s results to the board of education at its next meeting, at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 9.

“It will probably take us a while to sift through the information,” Barnes said, adding he thought the board of education will “want to get working on [the study] as soon as possible.”

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