Budget Committee Begins Discussions On Proposal for New Elementary School

October 18, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

The Budget Committee of the County Commission began discussions Tuesday evening on the Board of Education’s proposal for building a new Pre-K to 2^nd grade school to replace Smithville Elementary.

School Board Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III addressed members of the committee, Chairman Dennis Slager, Jerry Adcock, Sabrina Farler, Anita Puckett, and Jeff Barnes to provide specifics of the plan and to answer questions.

During its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, October 4, the school board voted unanimously to seek funding for the construction of a new elementary school.

Smithville Elementary School, originally built in 1958, now is 70,557 square feet in size, and has a current enrollment of 556 students. A year ago a facilities study by the board’s architect for the design phase, Upland Design Group, concluded that the school, which has mold and other concerns, should be replaced and repurposed for other uses.

The proposed new school, 98,000 square feet, would accommodate 800 students. The estimated project cost is $19,464,500 but that figure does not include costs of site preparation or the purchase of additional land if needed. Plans are to build the new school (Pre-K to 2^nd grade) adjacent to Northside Elementary School (grades 2-5) on the same property if it is feasible. According to the architect’s facilities study, 15-20 acres would be needed for the project. Members of the Board said having both Northside and the new elementary school on the same property would make it easier for students to transition from one to the other and it would free up space at Northside.

Chairman Evins told the budget committee Tuesday night that the board reached a consensus on this proposal because it addresses the most immediate need and is less costly than other plans which were considered. He added that this is the first phase of what the board hopes will be a long range plan for school construction.

“Something has to be done with Smithville Elementary School so we came to a unanimous consensus that the most practical thing to do right now is propose building a new Pre-K through  2 school.  It’s a simple solution and there is no zoning. The other options were two Pre-K  through 5^th grade schools and add on to Northside or two Pre-K through 8^th grade schools but with those plans there were zoning issues, athletic issues, and it’s a $38 million ticket. This one is $19.4 million. Its the least expensive and the one more do-able on a quicker time table. It puts the new school adjacent to Northside Elementary  and if we need to purchase more land extra real estate is available there. We looked at the simplest  plan, something that would pay out in  a ten year period,” said Chairman Evins.

“Will that school fit on the property?” asked Budget Committee Chairman Slager

“It might be tight. The only reason is the traffic concerns of putting two schools over there. We would need to address egress and ingress of traffic off North Congress Boulevard. We might need an additional 10 or 20 acres,” said Chairman Evins

“Will you know that soon?”asked Slager

“Yes but we will have to retain Upland Design Group as our Architect for the construction phase. We didn’t want to hire them until we got some positive feedback from you (budget committee). We can call a special meeting and put them on retainer,” answered Evins.

Slager said the budget committee would need more specifics on costs before putting together a proposed financial plan to fund the project. “This is a $19.5 million project but there may be additional costs that we would need to know about such as additional land as far as coming up with a financial package for the school. I’m sure you will let us know as soon as you can about that,” said Slager.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation also requires a traffic study be done anytime a new school is built near a state highway. Findings of that study as it relates to increased traffic flow and congestion will also be a consideration.

“I talked to TDOT today. They want in on the early design for driveway and road entrances,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling.

Slager urged Chairman Evins and the School Board to work on the cost numbers and keep in touch with the budget committee.

“We look forward to working with you. I think you can sense we are interested and on board to go forward. In the very near future we have to get together and start working on a financial plan with some hard numbers. By then we’re going to know pretty much where we are headed with TDOT, any additional land purchase, and those types of things. At that time we’ll get together and start working on a financial plan,” said Chairman Slager.

Should the new school proposal be approved by the county commission, the school board wants a plan in place, working with the commission, to move toward building a new high school after the new elementary school is completed and paid for hopefully within 10 years. The school board also wants the blessing of the county commission soon to purchase property for a new high school once a suitable location is found so it will be available when the time comes to build.

October 17, 2018
By:

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is set for Saturday, Oct. 27. As part of this major health and safety initiative, the DeKalb Prevention Coalition will host this take-back event at Smithville City Hall. More than 15 tons of drugs were collected statewide on the last National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in April.

Community members are encouraged to stop by this local take-back location to drop off their unused or expired medications, especially pain relievers and other prescription drugs. Health Care and law enforcement officers will be on hand to accept the medications and safely dispose of them, no questions asked.

“Two-thirds of Tennesseans said the main sources of prescription pain pills for those who abuse them are family members or friends,” said Lisa Cripps, Coordinator of DPC. “Take-back days are a safe and easy way to get these drugs out of your home.”

“Count It! Lock It! Drop It! is a comprehensive community program for prescription drug abuse prevention. The program’s focus is for all Tennesseans to count their pills, keep them locked away, and safely drop them in an official drop box to prevent others from accessing them,” said Kristina Clark, co-founder of Count It! Lock It! Drop It!^TM.

“With 52 percent of individuals statewide having concerns about a loved one’s becoming addicted, we want to provide more opportunities for people to safely dispose of their medications. National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day occurs twice a year, so we can better prevent these addictive drugs from getting into the wrong hands.”

If you can’t make it to a take-back event, visit http://countitlockitdropit.org/drop-box-finder/ to find a drop box in your community.

About CLD

Count It! Lock It! Drop It!^TM (CLD) is a comprehensive community program for prescription drug misuse prevention based in Coffee County, Tenn. With support from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, an independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, and the community at large, the program is leading a statewide education effort to combat the misuse and abuse of prescription pain medication. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, 7,636,112 opioid prescriptions were written in 2016, and it is CLD’s mission to make the community aware of the risks and dangers associated with the prescription drug misuse epidemic.

About DEA Take-Back Events

In April 2017, Americans turned in more than 900,000 pounds of prescription drugs at almost 5,400 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Tennesseans discarded 31,183 pounds of prescription drugs. In its 12 previous take-back events, the DEA and its partners have collected more than 6.4 million pounds – about 3,200 tons – of pills. For more information on the National Take-Back Initiative, visit https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/.

October 17, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Kids and their families are invited to a fun filled day Saturday, October 20 at the DeKalb Community Complex from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The first ever FREE Fall Fest will feature games, cake walk, face painting, kids arts and crafts, popcorn, live bluegrass music, a line dancing class at 12:30pm, and much more.

View video below of Director Josh Isaac inviting you to this event

IMG_1917 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

For more information call 615-597-2121.