Blount school board approves nearly $1 million for capital projects

The Blount County Board of Education on Thursday, April 4, approved spending nearly $1 million on capital projects, prompting one member to remark on the district’s efforts to keep aging buildings operating.

With voice votes, the board approved:

• A $347,800 contract with HSC LLC for replacing heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls at Eagleton College and Career Academy;

• A $303,076 bid from Porter Roofing Contractors Inc. for Friendsville Elementary School gymnasium roof repair/replacement;

• A $101,410 bid from Morristown Roofing Co. Inc. for roof repair/replacement at Walland Elementary School; and

• A $242,200 bid from Skilled Services for a prefabricated T-shaped awning with lighting at Carpenters Middle School, including a sidewalk extension, from the sixth grade wing to the car pickup lane.

Before the vote on the awing, school board member Brian King asked about receiving only one bid on the project, despite 337 vendors being notified of the opportunity. BCS also has received only one bid on some other recent projects.

BCS Facilities Supervisor James Duke said he couldn’t speculate on why more vendors did not bid on the projects.

School board Chair Erica Moore invited Jon Young, who was principal at CMS before becoming the district’s instructional supervisor, to discuss the need for the awning.

Young noted that school board member Fred Goins has said he didn’t care if the principal got wet, but he cared if the children got wet. “When it rains, it’s probably about a good 50 feet from the car to the door,” Young estimated.

The awning is expected to be one length of 13 feet by 46 feet and one 13 feet by 80 feet.

If approved by the Blount County Board of Commissioners, the spending would come from Fund 177, a portion of county property taxes devoted only to spending on BCS capital projects and not split with the city school districts.

At the end of the meeting, board member Robby Kirkland referred to comments on social media questioning where money was being spent and that evening’s approval of nearly $1 million. “If you go back and track it over 12 months, we’ve probably spent $20 million this year of taxpayer money on the schools, repairs, roofs, air conditioning and that kind of thing,” he said, and more than double that over the past two years.

He noted a 2022 report the school board commissioned that identified $217.6 million in potential needs over the next five years across the district’s nearly 2.3 million square feet of facilities. In that study, half of the BCS buildings were identified as “deficient” on a Facilities Condition Index.

Kirkland lauded the progress BCS has made since hiring Duke, and the board member noted the work has been done without new debt.

“If you get a chance, walk through Blount County Schools and see the condition they are in,” Kirkland said. His children went to Montvale Elementary about 40 years ago, he said, and today it looks brand new. “People need to go out and look and see where their tax dollars are going.”