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School Board Affirms Decision To Build Multi-Purpose Facility

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McKENZIE (February 1) — For a second time, the Board of Education of the McKenzie Special School District affirmed their intent to seek authorization from the Tennessee General Assembly to borrow up to $4 million. During the February 1 meeting, the board revisited the issue at the request of a school board member.

The outcome did not change and the Board plans to borrow - possibly $2.5 million - to construct a multi-purpose facility on the campus of McKenzie High School.

A multi-purpose facility will be approximately 50 yards of turf and allow indoor practice for football, band, cheerleading, basketball, soccer, softball, and baseball, plus physical education classes.

The long-term debt for the construction of McKenzie High School retires this year, leaving the school free of any long-term obligations.

The voice vote in favor of seeking approval by the General Assembly were George Cassidy, Chad Brown, and Misty Aird. Voting against was Karen Fowler. LaShonda Williams indicated she abstained on the issue. Jon Davis did not vote in the chairman’s role. Greg Barker was absent.

In voicing her opposition, Fowler said the school has more pressing needs, such as a new K-8 school. She noted the board’s strategic plan emphasizes children first, noting that not all students play sports.

The McKenzie Elementary School (MES) was constructed in the 1960s and the McKenzie Middle School (MMS) in 1975.

Fowler said the district funds $250,000 annually in maintenance of the buildings.

Jon Davis said construction of a new K-8 school would cost an estimated $50 million and would require several years before construction could begin. The “new” high school was constructed in 1998 at a cost of $12 million.

Any new school construction would require an increase in taxes. Davis said taxes have not been increased during his 16-year tenure on the board. He is not seeking reelection in August.

During a previous school board meeting, the board talked about constructing a new football stadium on the campus of McKenzie High School and then building a new K-8 on the existing football campus, located on Woodrow.

Director Watkins said the schools are currently undergoing $1.5 million in upgrades including heating and air conditioning in the gymnasiums of MES and MMS, renovations of the dressing rooms at the MMS Gym, and replacement windows at McKenzie High School. The improvements are funded through ESSER, a COVID-relief fund from the federal government.

On Friday, Lynn Watkins, director of schools, said he forwarded the request to allow the school system to borrow up to $4 million to State Representative Tandy Darby and State Senator John Stevens for introduction as a private act for consideration by the General Assembly. Watkins said the new facility will not require any new taxes. The board plans to use the existing debt service funds of $550,000 annually to retire the new indebtedness.

In April 2021, the Board heard a report from Director Watkins indicating the multi-purpose building could be paid through a ESSER 4.0 federal grant, if 4.0 ever came to fruition. At this point, it appears ESSER 4.0 is not under consideration by Congress.

The Banner reported in April, “McKenzie’s Director of Schools Lynn Watkins said the funds are restricted in their use. He said the Tennessee Department of Education believes a ESSER 4 round of funding will allocate funds for facilities.

“ESSER 2 and 3 will provide funding to air condition the gymnasiums at the elementary and middle schools, replace windows at MHS, hire teachers and assistants to help students who struggled during the pandemic, buy educational equipment, software, install water-bottle filling stations, buy a new food freezer at MMS, and perform maintenance and repairs. Watkins said one of the priorities of a previous school board was to construct a multi-purpose facility at MHS for teams and the band to practice, and use to hold sporting events. MHS has a lone gymnasium, which is in high demand during the school year. In 2016, the cost of the multi-purpose facility was estimated to cost $2.6 million.”

The Board in the year 2016 authorized preliminary drawings of the multi-purpose facility.

During the Director’s Report, Watkins announced the gifts for school board members and the many posters hanging on the wall at the Board Office were in recognition of School Board Appreciation Week.

He announced four seats on the school board are expiring on August 31, 2022. Deadline to seek office is February 17 at the Carroll County Election Commission. Persons, aged 18 and older and a registered voter within the geographic boundary of the school district can seek office by qualifying by the deadline. The expiring at-large seats are LaShonda Williams, Jon Davis, Greg Barker and George Cassidy.

Substitute teachers employed were Alley Burnett, Molly Boucher, Jessica Chandler, Paul Conquest, and Kensley Crossno.

Also employed were educational assistants Brittany Parham and Jessica Rogers. The director noted the resignation of Andra Herrin.