Lack of Study? Proposed county school raises Village concerns

A large and vocal group of Tellico Village residents are imploring Loudon County officials to NOT fund a new school without first conducting a study to assess its need, as the costs associated with building it would raise property taxes.

Over the past month, multiple public meetings have been dominated by Villagers voicing their frustration in what Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw has called “a very, very heated subject.”

Many of those speaking out are members of the Conservative Club of Tellico.

On June 5, the Club hosted Mike Garren, county director of schools, to discuss plans for the new school during its weekly meeting. The following week, Garren appeared at another informational meeting about the school — this time at the Yacht Club at Tellico Village.

Then, on June 17, nearly 20 people spoke out about the school during a standing-room-only Loudon County Commission workshop, which saw yet another presentation from Garren. … Two days later, about 50 people showed up at a County Budget Committee meeting and later that day the issue was raised again by someone at a Tellico Village Property Owners Association board meeting.

On June 20, a candidate running for the state House of Representatives in the 21st District — Kenneth Moore, who is a Tellico Village resident himself — was asked his take on the new school issue during a candidate forum in the Village. And at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 22, locals have organized a “peaceful opportunity to socialize and gather with others opposed to increasing county property taxes at this time” on the grounds of the Loudon County Courthouse, according to a flyer distributed at these aforementioned meetings.

One resident indicated that this level of attention is out of the ordinary.

"This is the most passion I've seen in our community since I've been here, and I've been here for 10 years," said Blake Moore, who isn't related to the candidate. "And I moved to this county specifically because of that passion — to have a conservative, forward-thinking, America-first philosophy."

While this flurry of activity has happened recently, plans for a new school for grades 7 to 12 have been in the works since the fall of 2021, when the Loudon County Board of Education decided it was necessary to address growth. A year later, First Baptist Church in Lenoir City voted to approve the sale of 35 acres for $1.85 million to Loudon County Schools for construction of the new school.

The estimate to build the school, along with some smaller proposed projects at other county schools, is $115 million. And at the County Commission meeting on June 24, commissioners are expected to decide whether to pass a 25-cent property tax increase for the building program, which would raise the current county property tax rate of $1.518 to $1.768.

‘SHOW YOUR WORK’

At the June 17 Loudon County Commission workshop, Blake Moore was one of the residents asking commissioners to share all detailed options that have been considered so far. Moore said he’s not saying the county doesn’t need a new school or schools — he’s saying constituents don’t have enough information to evaluate whether the best decision is being made.

“Educators and commissioners should be held to the same standards as our Loudon County students, and that is to show your work,” Moore said. “When students are required to show their work, it helps ensure they understand what's required to solve the problem. It is not too much to ask of our elected and appointed leaders who are demanding more money from constituents to do the same.”

Larry Elder, who moved to Tellico Village partially for the low taxes 14 years ago, voiced an opinion that was “a little different than the rest of them.”

“I look and I see issues that you've confronted as far as the growth in Loudon County. You don't want it to be another Lenoir City, and you have voted to put those restrictions in place,” Elder said. “Because when you have unwarranted and unregulated growth, you're going to have a ton of students in the county … You've never done what was wanted, you always came through and voted for what was needed. And I have the complete confidence that you're going to do the same this time.”

After the public hearing, Garren delivered his presentation to the Commission. Commissioner Rosemary Quillen, who represents the 2nd district where the school would be located, said it was her third time seeing the presentation after doing so twice in Tellico Village.

“First of all, I didn't understand why you chose Tellico Village and not the County Commission to present this first. I'm concerned that your presentation is just now being shared with us, since we're the responsible decision makers that will be asked to impose a tax increase,” she said.

“You said you haven't done a school assessment because County Commission hasn't asked you to. Is that not the first step in determining a new school … if it's needed?”

Quillen said she served many years on the Lenoir City School board as chairman, and they did feasibility studies before ever asking for extra money. A chart from 2006 to the present shows the county’s student numbers are down, she said.

A point of contention was a slide in Garren’s presentation that shows more than 5,000 units have been approved for construction in Lenoir City. According to Garren, trends show that 16% of the number of building permits issued one year can be used to predict the school system’s average enrollment increase the following year.

Quillen said that after looking into the projects and speaking with developers, she arrived at a different conclusion.

“I'm curious as to where you got this chart and if these are your numbers, and evidently you believe them to be correct because you have presented them for the third time … In doing my due diligence, I have researched your numbers and quite disturbingly found them to be inaccurate,” she said.

Quillen said she found 1,492 units that are approved and underway in Lenoir City. Applying the prediction formula to the different number of units they each found, there’s a discrepancy of about 700 possible students.

“I take my position very seriously and I've been presented numbers that have been misleading and inaccurate, and I make my decisions on facts and not speculation. There hasn't been a traffic study done or completed. Who's going to pay for roads?” Quillen said. “So I am not raising taxes on the citizens of Loudon County with inaccurate numbers and speculation for a $115 million school project.”

Her statement was met with emphatic cheers and applause from those in the room. Once everyone quieted down, there was about 30 seconds of silence before Garren responded.

“I got the information from Mr. Shaver,” he said, referring to County Commissioner Van Shaver of the 5th District.

“We're actually seeing enrollment increases in our schools,” Garren said. “As I showed you, we're out of space. We don't have additional classrooms.”

Shaver told fellow Commissioner Quillen the information is “accurate to the letter.” They went back and forth briefly about whose information was accurate before the meeting continued.

HIGH-STRESS ISSUE

The afternoon of June 18, Conservative Club of Tellico newsletter subscribers got an email urging them to attend the Loudon County’s Budget Committee meeting the next morning.

“It is our last best chance to stop the tax increase and construction of the proposed new Middle/High School Complex,” the message said. As a result, a crowd of people holding signs with slogans such as “Homework before the building” and “Do the math, no school without a study” turned up the next day.

In response, the Budget Committee moved the meeting into a larger room. The mayor announced that while they typically don’t have a period for public comment at those meetings, they’d make an exception.

“This committee recognizes the high stress, the importance of this issue,” Bradshaw said. “And so, for the first time in nine years, we're going to have some public speaking.”

County Sheriff Jimmy Davis advised everyone to keep the aisle to the door clear, and monitored the time while people spoke during the de facto town hall meeting. A brief moment of levity was found when someone asked if the names of those speaking would be handed over to the Sheriff, prompting everyone to laugh.

Conservative Club of Tellico founder Rick Dramm, who has lived in Loudon County for four years and whose son graduated from Loudon High School, spoke first.

“There were probably 135 people in that room on Monday night at the Commission workshop,” Dramm said. “What was very, very evident was the fact that there was not one parent that came to the podium to speak, scream and yell about the overcrowding of Loudon County schools. I think that spoke volumes.”

Two people in attendance identified themselves as not living in Tellico Village. One raised concerns regarding what the school would do to nearby roads, saying it'd be "a traffic nightmare and an accident nightmare" that will deter people from going to downtown Lenoir City or Loudon when school's starting or getting out.

‘DEMANDING MORE ANSWERS’

After everyone spoke and the meeting adjourned, attendees continued to press commissioners for information. Responding to a question about what the Budget Committee can recommend, Shaver explained that the School Board has asked the county to fund their request.

“The Budget Committee can choose to make a recommendation of that funding or not," Shaver continued. "We can … tell them anything we want. It's insignificant what we say. That's not our job,” Shaver said.

“You have 10 School Board members. You have an administration down there. They are the ones who came up with the plan. If there's a flaw in their plan, they're the ones to talk to.

“We will either, or will either not, make a recommendation to fund what they're asking for … If we vote Monday night to offer funding for what they're asking for, they may choose to do differently,” Shaver said.

Commissioner Henry Cullen said that when the budget was completed by the Budget Committee, the county property tax rates stayed where they were at $1.518. He believes that at the budget adoption meeting on June 24, finance director Erin Rice will open things up with appropriations of the tax rate.

“And if anybody wants to change it, they'll have to make a motion, a second and six votes,” Cullen said.

Commissioner Will Jenkins, who also represents the 2nd District, served on the county school board in 2021. He voted in favor of building a new school then, he said, but added that “numbers were on the rise” at that time.

“Right now if you were to look at those same numbers, they're not where they were at that time period,” Jenkins said. “So a study, I feel, would need to be done and I won't support (this project) moving forward until we see an assessment.”

Quillen said she’s received countless phone calls, text messages and emails, and “will not run from conflict.”

“I appreciate everyone here, and that you're coming back and coming back and just demanding more answers,” she said. “… I would challenge our County Commission to hear you and to make this transparent and do a study.”

“What do we have to lose?”

Nate Tosado contributed to this article.