Knox County proposes new school to address overcrowding

A long-awaited solution may finally address school overcrowding in the Farragut area of Knox County.At Monday night’s school board work session, Knox County Schools (KCS) leaders recommended building a new K-5 elementary school to address the overcrowding in Farragut area schools. The proposed school is expected to cost $47 million and will house 1,200 students.District leaders also recommended spending $3 million to renovate Farragut Primary and Intermediate schools and expand both into K-5 elementary schools.The district hopes these proposed changes will address community concerns including providing for the smallest possible school sizes while still creating a capacity for growth, maintaining the middle school’s proximity to high school, reducing the number of school transitions for students, and addressing traffic concerns. The district also plans to explore the future addition of a Freshman Academy at Farragut High School.“This is something that it was very interesting meeting with the families to hear their responses and one of the questions were, ‘Yeah, you’re listening now but are you listening?’ So clearly we’re listening and this process, this is what it’s about. We want to ensure my time works very closely with the community to ensure that we are addressing the needs of all communities,” said KCS Assistant Superintendent of Operations Garfield Adams.The Farragut area also faces challenges with traffic congestion on all campuses and the need for portable classrooms at three out of four schools.District leaders considered three options to address the overcrowding issues, including building a new middle school and converting the Farragut Primary School into a new elementary school and expanding the Intermediate School into Farragut Middle School or converting the Farragut Intermediate School into a Freshman Academy for Farragut High School.In November and December, leaders met with the community to gather feedback on potential solutions. Board member Susan Horn says that community input has moved the district to a better solution.“I appreciate the surveys also. I think it’s really interesting to look at and that’s very instructive to look at, the surveys to see what families, particularly families that are in that situation now and families that even are past that timeframe with their children. So I appreciate that you took all those concerns and all that feedback into account with this plan and I think it’ll be a great plan,” said Horn.The Knox County School Board is expected to vote on the proposals next month.