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School officials spell out land needs, construction to commission




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Construction and growth needs facing Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools were spelled out to the Montgomery County Commission on Dec. 2 during the commission’s informal session. 

While the school district seeks funding next week for five resolutions to alleviate capacity among the district, Director of Schools Millard House took time to address the commission on concern from a few of its members who had expressed interest in re-acquiring land once planned for a middle school on Kirkwood. 

“Please know that the district is not married to any one piece of land,” House said. “Our hope is to simply be prepared for what’s to come and not be caught in a similar situation that we are currently enduring. If that means to keep the land in question or immediately move forward with searching for an alternative land purchase that aligns with our construction and growth plan. That would also be fine.”

Norm Brumblay, the district’s facilities manager and Jim Sumrell, the district’s chief operations officer, joined House at the podium. 

Sumrell explained how quickly enrollment has climbed since the early 1980s. 

“In 1985, the enrollment was 14,036,” Sumrell said. “Then, whatever happened in 1985 began the growth trend in student population that has yet to cease.” 

Sumrell said in the last 34 years, the district went from about a 14,000 students enrolled to more than 36,000 students currently. 

The enrollment numbers schools officials project, coupled with the projections made by the Regional Planning Commission, show upwards of 52,000 students in the next 20 years. 

Brumblay’s construction report showed a need for more than $433 million within the next 20 years to meet the more than 15,000 students enrollment increase forecasted by the RPC. 

With growth anticipated in the northeastern area of Montgomery County, Brumblay said once the capacity is topped at the landfill near Kirkwood, the site could be used to build more schools. 

That capping of capacity is anticipated in about 11 years, he said. 

“Holding onto Kirkwood [property] reduces the future burden for land acquisition for [the commission,]” Brumblay said. “We are still likely to need land in this region over the next 20 years.” 

Several commissioners suggested the district begin building up with several levels in school construction as opposed to the campus-based designs the district currently uses.

Sumrell said using the same design plans present a $500,000 savings each time the plans are re-used. 

“All of the forecasting that has been done is based on an elementary school that is expandable to 1,100 students,” Sumrell said. “Also, a middle school that is a two-story design that is expandable to 1,500 students and a high school that is expandable to 2,000 students.” 

The district does not find itself in the position for needing to build up, Sumrell said. 

The planned new middle school, with land yet to be acquired by the county, will likely be the same two-story design as West Creek Middle School, according to House. 

House said a major rezoning of the school district would likely take place once the planned new middle school is built. 

Mayor Jim Durrett reminded commissioners, while the commission had already decided to re-acquire the Kirkwood site, what it does with that land in the future, whether to keep it or dispose of it, wasn’t yet decided. 

In the next 20 years, House said the district plans to add on to buildings, with the construction of 11 new elementary schools, two new middle schools and two new high schools.

“The issue here tonight was to allow the school system to show the commission what they are going to need up to 2040,” Durrett said. “The school system is saying, ‘We’re going to need land.’…Regardless of where [new schools] go, they’re going to need land.”

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