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East Ridge: Future of two elementary schools on hold

By: Kelli Gauthier
(Contact)

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Tommy Kranz

Impatient parents and taxpayers in East Ridge will have to wait a little longer to find out the fate of their two elementary schools, officials said.

School administrators on Friday decided to cancel their presentation at a Sept. 29 meeting of the East Ridge Education Committee to discuss replacing East Ridge Elementary or building a “megaschool” to house both East Ridge and McBrien Elementary students.

“I know the parents and citizens are getting very impatient,” Hamilton County Board of Education Chairman Kenny Smith said. “I’m getting impatient.”

Consultants are reviewing all of the school system’s facilities, its enrollment and how best to use resources, so school administrators don’t want to make a decision on the East Ridge schools until that report is finished in November or December, said Tommy Kranz, Hamilton County Schools’ chief financial officer.

“Our belief is it would be best to have that study completed and look at the total districtwide facilities in conjunction with the fiscal year 2010 budget and beyond so we can make the best decisions possible and not do it in a piecemeal manner,” Mr. Kranz said.

Based on the report’s findings, the district could, among other options, decide to consolidate additional schools, keep East Ridge and McBrien separate or combine them into one facility, Mr. Kranz said. The school system will prepare a comprehensive plan of action after staff members hear the final report from consultants.

In September 2007, the Hamilton County Commission approved $16 million for a new East Ridge Elementary School. After initial talks of an East Ridge-McBrien consolidation, Gary Waters, assistant superintendent of auxiliary services, estimated that a megaschool would cost about $22 million.

Even if the school district believed consolidation of the two schools was the best plan, Mr. Kranz said, he isn’t sure where the extra $6 million would come from.

“While the numbers say it’s great to do a consolidation, we may not have access to the capital to make that consolidation,” he said.

Whatever plan the district chooses for the schools in East Ridge and around the district, Mr. Kranz said Hamilton County Schools faces a $15 million deficit in fiscal 2010, and another $10 million shortfall the next year.

“We have some real, real challenges,” he said. “Our superintendent will have some very difficult decisions to make.”

Mr. Smith, who anticipated more public meetings in East Ridge once the consultant’s report was complete, said officials had made no decision about the two elementary schools.

“It’s as far from a decision for me as it was six months ago,” he said.

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