A new option for the future of Greeneville City Schools was presented to the Greeneville Town Council and City School Board at a joint meeting last night.
Options that had been previously presented by a consulting firm included upgrades to the existing buildings, with options to build a new middle school and to close Highland Elementary School.
Director of Schools Steve Starnes presented a modified plan that included making Hal Henard the home to all Pre-K classes and moving the Central Office operations to that building. The existing Greeneville Middle School would be renovated to a K-5 elementary school. Additional classrooms would be built at Tusculum View and Eastview, and a new middle school would be built on Jeff Woods Boulevard. The maintenance and transportation operations, as well as the alternative learning programs would be moved to the Greene Technology Center, and Highland would be closed. The proposal would also allow for the George Clem building to be turned over to the town for use as a community center and the sale of the current central office on Depot Street.
New school zones would also be drawn to better distrbute students through the system. Recent growth areas have resulted in near full capacity at Tusculum View and Hal Henard with nearly 400 students each, while the student population at Highland has dropped to around 150 students.
Bonds for renovations and improvements at Greeneville Middle and Greeneville High School will be paid off in the next few years. Once those loans are paid off, the opportunity to borrow at least part of the cost of the plan would be possible.
City Administrator Todd Smith pointed out that the Town of Greeneville has some needs and plans in place in the next five years that may require some significant costs. Among those plans are improvement of roads and other infrastructure, particuarly on the east end of town that has seen the most growth in recent years.
The town’s debt will soon be around $20 million, but the maximum allowable debt is just over $63 million. Smith said that the Town’s capital needs could be around $15 million, and a comprehensive street plan could reach up to $20 million. Should the town have to take on those debts, funding a large school renovation and building plan might require significant property tax increases.
It was the first look at the plan by the Greeneville Town Council. The council has a retreat scheduled for next month and may take the issue up at that time before meeting again with the School Board to decide the issue.
Draft Facility Improvement Plan – 10-18-24
Objective: To enhance and optimize the district’s educational facilities to better serve students and staff.
Key Actions:
- Purchase GTC and relocate Maintenance, Custodial, Transportation, and ASA to GTC along with the CTE programs offered:
- The building could be purchased using retired debt service (town and GCS) funds over three years (25-26, 26-27, & 27-28) at an annual estimated cost of approximately $283,000 or $313,000 annually when amortized at 4% interest. The different amounts would be dependent upon negotiations for the 50.964 undeveloped acres. See the accompanying sheet.
- Relocate the bus garage, maintenance operations, and custodial services to GTC.
- Use part of the existing parking lot for bus storage. The only costs would be fencing, gates, site prep, asphalt, and garage door replacements.
- Move ASA (Alternative School) from George Clem Operations Center to Greene Technology Center.
- Hal Henard Facility Transformation:
- Convert Hal Henard into an Early Learning Center and relocate Coordinated School Health, the Family Resource Center, IT, and TN Online Public School (TOPS) at Greeneville to Hal Henard.
- This allows all Pre-K classrooms (Gen. Ed. & Sp. Ed.) to be housed at one site and have room for a self-funded employee daycare facility.
- Relocating the data center and backup generator could be paid using annual capital funds.
- Relocate the Central Office to Hal Henard as a final step. The Central Office would retain the name Kathryn Leonard Central Office.
- Middle School and Elementary School Reorganization:
- Renovate the round portion of the current middle school. The current GMS site would then serve as a K-5 elementary school. This will value the newly installed HVAC system, LED lights, office renovation, roof replacement – except 6th-grade wing (2018), and other improvements.
- This also provides an elementary school with a capacity of 600+, which allows for growth.
- Construct a new middle school on Jeff Woods Memorial to address educational inadequacies and provide an environment more conducive to providing a viable curriculum that allows for expanded career and technical education. This also allows for growth.
- Expansion of Existing Elementary Schools:
- Add three new classrooms with restrooms to East View (EV) and Tusculum View (TV) elementary schools to meet current and future demands. This would be a net effective gain of 4 classrooms per school since Pre-K would be relocated to the Hal Henard Early Learning Center.
- Closure and Redistricting:
- Close Highland Elementary School and implement necessary redistricting to balance elementary student distribution across the district. All elementary zones would be evaluated.
Implementation Flow:
- Initiate Construction:
- Contract masonry team for a project focused on renovating the interior spaces at EV, HH, TV, and GMS (Summer of 2028 through Summer of 2029).
- Begin constructing the classroom additions at East View and Tusculum View (Design work to begin Spring of 28 with construction to begin Summer of 2029).
- Begin construction of a new middle school (Design work to begin in the Fall of 2027, with construction to begin in the Fall of 2029).
- Operational Stability:
- Maintain current operations with all students and staff remaining in their existing schools until the additions and renovations are completed at EV and TV.
- Transition Phase:
- Start renovating the existing Greeneville Middle School (Construct Permanent Walls in Round Portion).
- Close Highland Elementary once the two additions are completed at EV and TV.
- Execute redistricting to align with the new elementary school configurations.
- Start the construction of the new Greeneville Middle School on Jeff Woods Memorial (GMS).
- Final Adjustments:
- Relocate K-5 students to the newly designated elementary school sites and new middle school.
- Sell the Central Office on Depot St. and relocate it to the Hal Henard ELC and Kathryn Leonard Central Office Complex. The proceeds would offset the renovation of the central office at Hal Henard and could be applied to other capital needs.
- Allocation of the 60-million-dollar Bond Issuance:
- Three classroom additions at EV and TV = $2.16 Million.
- Renovate open-concept schools = $3.97 Million.
- Constructing New Middle School = $51 Million.
- Owner Contingency Escalation = $2.86 million
- Total = $59.99 Million
- Other Costs
- Cost to purchase GTC – $313,000 per year for three years.
- Cost to relocate bus shop to GTC. = $350,000.
- Furnishings – $350,000
- Operational Savings
- Cost Avoidance (water, sewer, electricity) = $192,686
- Five-Year Capital Avoidance = $1,863,225
- Benefits:
- This creates three elementary schools with approximate capacities of 460, 460, and 600 (1520 total).
- The new Middle School will have an approximate capacity of 825.
- GHS is listed as having a capacity of 1100.
- This would provide an approximate maximum capacity for the system of 3445. This would allow for the growth of up to an additional 545 students from our current enrollment but also address the need for small-group instruction spaces.
- The plan would remove three buildings (HL, GCOC, KLCO) with the most needs from the GCS inventory, providing increased operational efficiency and cost savings.
- Addresses the educational inadequacies identified from the Woolpert Study.
- The classroom addition at EV will also address some ADA issues.
- Greatly reduces the traffic issues on Vann Rd.
- Does not require the leasing and infrastructure costs of mobile classrooms.
- Limits disruption to students during renovations and construction.
- Combines all Central Office support functions in one building except for Transportation, Maintenance, and Custodial.
- Relieves the parking issues and costs for KLCO and GCOC.
- Addresses the need for a regulation soccer field, tennis courts, and a track facility with locker rooms, restrooms, concessions, and storage facilities.
- Positions GCS for the future and provides an environment optimized for student performance and well-being.
- This plan would affect almost all GCS educational facilities.
- Scoped to the recommended Bond amount.
