Commission approves bonds for ne

The decision of the Loudon County School Board to build a new middle/high school and the decision of the county commission to fund the request, is likely the most historic decisions the BOE and commission has ever made. The addition of the new school to the county school system will change education, for the better, in Loudon County forever. Was the decision controversial, of course. Was there opposition, sure. Anytime there's a challenge to the "That's The Way We've Always Done It" mind set, there's always going to be opposition. However, in the not so distant future, everyone will see the wisdom of this decision.

Long after the costs and controversies have been forgotten, decades of students will have a state of the art school to attend and be proud of. I am honored to have gotten to be a tiny part of this historic time in Loudon County.

Besides the new school, there are three other building projects that will greatly enhance and improve education and school activities throughout the county.

Right now, the ground breaking for all 4 projects is planned for mid June. The exact dates and times have not been announced yet. I will keep everyone informed as soon as the school board sets the dates.

Commission approves bonds for new school funding

Adam Delahoussaye news-herald.net

Its been almost a year since Loudon County Commission voted to raise property taxes as a means to fund the newly planned North End school among other various school projects throughout the system.

On Monday, May 5, after a tumultuous 10 months, an approval for a bond resolution for the projects was made totaling right at $110 million.

Among the other projects lumped in with the bond resolution were 10 new classrooms for Philadelphia Elementary at $6,178,000; new athletic facilities like a football field and gymnasium at Greenback School at $6,782,940; and the CTE addition at Loudon High School costing just north of $1 million.

The new school, set to be built just a mile down the road from Lenoir City High School, is set to cost $81,850,000 per its lowest bid.

SUPPORT & OPPOSITION

The new school and the funds associated with it has seen both vehement support and opposition in the 10 months since its initial approval at Commission — and those parties showed out in full force at the County Clerk’s Office on Monday evening.

Packed wall to wall with concerned and celebratory citizens, attendees flooded the annex and poured out into the hallway. While listed as the eighth item on the meeting’s agenda, Commissioner Van Shaver made a motion to amend the agenda by placing the vote as seventh in order of business.

The amendment was approved.

The hour-long public comment section was filled with protestors of the development, most continuing to repeat the same concerns that have been permeating since the property tax was raised back in July of 2024.

The lack of a needs assessment, statistics not showing a significant enough growth in younger demographics to justify the plans and other perceived pitfalls were all topics of conversation from the vocal group in protest of the process it took to get to this position.

One resident, Blake Moore, even gave up a portion of his five minutes to allow commissioners to answer the concerns he had about a lack of bidding for contracts and bonds for the various school projects.

Commissioner Rosemary Quillen stated that the vetting process took place without her — not being able to speak for her fellow county commissioners, who mostly remained silent.

Moore also addressed his personal commissioners from the First District for their answer, where Bill Geames deflected by saying that the time allotted belonged to Mr. Moore. The only other commissioner to offer an answer was Chase Randolph.

“It’s hard to give answers to people who know everything,” Randolph said.

While frustration bubbled between commissioners and some of their disgruntled residents, there were a vast majority of those in attendance in favor of the approval as was shown by the raucous applause following the lone public comment to support the bond issuance.

That comment came from Jan Dougherty, a Tellico Village resident and a retired school teacher from Illinois.

“This is not just an investment in brick and mortar,” Dougherty said. “It is an investment in the future of our children, our community and our county’s continued growth.

“Passing this bond sends a clear message that you all prioritize education, you plan for the future and you believe that our children deserve a safe, modern and inspiring place to learn.”

The vote didn’t come without dissent among the governing body, however.

As Chairman Henry Cullen read the consideration, Commissioner Quillen made a motion to delay the vote until a feasibility study was conducted. She also stated that the fiduciary charts presented to the Budget Committee weren’t presented to the Commission in full — hindering her confidence in the thoroughness of the project.

Her motion wasn’t followed by a second, however, and failed.

Following Quillen, Commissioner Shaver made the motion to approve the proposal with Commissioner Gary Whitfield offering a second. The vote was 6-3 with one absence.

Voting in favor of the bond resolution were Commissioners Bill Geames, Bill Satterfield, Joe Morrison, Van Shaver and Chase Randolph. Against the approval were Commissioners Rosemary Quillen, Adam Waller and Chairman Henry Cullen.

Loudon County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw, who was slated to give the reading of the proposal per the agenda, was absent. Second District Commissioner Will Jenkins was also absent.

The Loudon County Commission will reconvene for its next workshop on Monday, May 19.