CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A new science addition at Cleveland High School tops a five-year plan that will be presented to the Cleveland Board of Education at its July meeting later this month.

The board’s Site Committee met last week to review a plan developed by city school principals and Dr. Rick Denning, director of schools.

If the list gets board approval, Dr. Denning will take it to the Cleveland City Council’s fall planning retreat.

“We need to get on a footing where we can complete a job,” Dr. Denning told the Site Committee.

He pointed out some recent uncompleted projects including a cafeteria at Arnold Elementary, a bridge at Mayfield Elementary and athletic facilities at Cleveland Middle School.

The new five-year plan includes all the schools in the system. Principals made suggestions for their schools but did not take part in the ranking, Dr. Denning said.

A dilemma for the board is that no individual school’s list is ever completed, board member Murl Dirksen said. The lower-ranking items on any school’s priority list always end up being outranked by the top needs at another school, he said.

“I understand you want to say we have this one facility complete. We want to focus on one,” Dr. Dirksen said to Dr. Denning. “But we have these other needs, too.”

Committee members said that when funding becomes available, it should go to the highest priorities.

“When you walk through these schools, you pretty much can see these priorities fall in the most-needed range,” board member Tom Cloud said. Cleveland High has needs because it is the largest school, he said, but Stuart Elementary is the oldest in the system.

The committee agreed last week that cost estimates are needed for at least the top of the priority list.

“I know the council would like to have that,” Dr. Denning said. But getting estimates for every item in the five-year plan would be costly and time-consuming, he said.

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