FARRAGUT, Tenn. — On Monday, leaders with Knox County Schools met for a work session. There, they discussed plans to address capacity and traffic concerns in the Farragut area, and the board's plans to build a new school there.
It said that in October 2023, the board approved buying land on Boring Road to build the new school. Following the purchase, leaders presented possible solutions to capacity concerns. During November 2023 and December 2023, they held community presentations and worked to get community feedback.
They proposed that KCS build a new elementary school in Farragut.
Presenters said the new school could cost around $47 million and would host around 1,200 students. They also said KCS could renovate Farragut Primary School to make room for 753 students and renovate Farragut Intermediate School to make room for 558 students. During the presentation, they said the Farragut Middle School could also be renovated into a K-5 school.
Renovations would cost around $3 million, according to the presentation. According to a presentation on Monday, construction on the new school could take around two years before it opens its doors for the 2026-2027 school year.
The presentation said leaders originally had three options to address capacity concerns: build a new middle school, build a new elementary school with conversions to Farragut Primary School, or build a new elementary school without changes to the existing primary school.
The presentation said according to most community feedback, respondents wanted to make sure Farragut schools had room and infrastructure for future growth and also wanted to keep the number of students at each school as low as possible.
Community feedback also revealed concerns with having freshman high schoolers sharing a campus with elementary schoolers. Two options for KCS leaders included mixing high schoolers and younger students on the same campus to make room at other schools. One plan includes creating a Farragut High School Freshman Academy in part of Farragut Middle School.
The presentation said community members also voiced concerns about traffic on Boring Road after the new school is built, and wanted to keep middle schools within walking distance of high schools so middle schoolers could easily access advanced classes.
It said Farragut leaders were confident they could address traffic concerns on Boring Road, and said they also "anticipate car-rider infrastructure on the Boring Road property to alleviate traffic."
Presenters said the next steps for building the new school include communicating KCS' plan to Farragut families throughout January and requesting board approval to reclassify FPS and FIS and request funds for renovations at those schools. In spring 2024, they said they would continue with the design process for the new school.
KCS leaders are expected to meet once again on Jan. 11 for a regular session, where they are expected to vote on a variety of resolutions.