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Edcation Board head addresses new school
Kandi Austin - Thu, Nov, 3, 2005
Despite “rumors,” Knox County Board of Education members indicate the new West Knox high school is on schedule and will be a great school.
Board member Chuck James, District 6, said, “I just want to assure the people of the sixth district that we are gonna build this school because I’ve had a bunch of rumors, people calling saying: ‘Well, we’re hearing you all don’t have the money so you’re not going to build this school, you’re going to add on to other schools.’
“Well, you know that’s never even been a discussion at any meeting that I’ve been in and like I say, Tuesday night, this board [saw] all the studies for the bids and superintendent Dr. [Charles] Lindsey’s already been working with [Public Building Authority] and the [Knox] County Mayor [Michael Ragsdale] and everything I’m hearing today is good news and everything’s still on schedule, it’s a go.”
Knox County set aside $40 million to build a new high school, but James said building material costs have increased due to Hurricane Katrina and new price estimates brought the total cost to 20 percent over budget.
“So there’s been an increase, but I’ve spoken with the superintendent who’s already having meetings with P-B-A and they’re trying to find ways to keep this project on line. I’ve spoken with the county mayor and he’s assured me that this school’s gonna go forward.
“I think with the county mayor, I think he’s got the same philosophy that I do, that this school can be built for forty million dollars. I know the inflation rate is up there, it’s on every project that Knox County has going on right now, not just this high school, it’s with the libraries and other projects throughout the county and the state,” James said.
James added one way to keep the costs within the budget may be to “just start taking some stuff out” and “shortening” the plans.
“We’ve got forty million dollars and we’re gonna build a high school for forty million dollars,” James said. “And it may not be exactly the same size that we started out to build, but we will build a good high school and it will be something that we can all be proud of, and we’ll be in it in two thousand eight.”
Ragsdale agreed, saying “We remain committed to building an outstanding facility within the forty million dollar budget approved by the [Knox County Municipal Planning] Commission.”
Board Chairman Dr. Dan Murphy said the school would be built for 2,000 students as planned, would be a good high school and “have the stuff high schools have.”
Murphy added he thinks PBA, who the Board hired to manage the project, already anticipated cost increases and “estimated updated cost estimates.”
The Board had a work session Tuesday, Nov. 1, (after farragutpress presstime) so PBA could update the Board on plans for the school.
Despite recent media attention concerning budget issues with the new school, Murphy said, “We’ve done this before, get an update.”
Murphy added the school is moving along on schedule and a groundbreaking will probably be scheduled for early December.
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