Hamilton County school facilities plan at varying stages

August 7, 2024

Nick Hill,

A list of proposed school projects by funding under a $260 million bond. (Courtesy: Hamilton County Government)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Wednesday is the first day of school for students in Hamilton County.

However, county government and the school board are focusing on what lies beyond the new school year.

Unveiled last year, and approved by the Hamilton County School Board in January, the school facilities plan looks to replace aging facilities across Hamilton County.

However, Hamilton County Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson said, “We recognize that the list that was passed in January, some things have changed since then. We’re going to have to revisit it.”

At hand for the Commission is a 260 million dollar bond, of which all but 10 million is proposed to address school facilities.

The other 10 million would go to the Waste and Water Transmission Authority to address some of their projects.

Here is a list of the projects being addressed by this bond based on cost:

Deferred Maintenance ($60 Million)
North River Elementary ($42 Million)
Gateway School ($40 Million)
Brainerd Middle/High ($25-$30 Million)
Soddy-Daisy Middle ($25-$30 Million)
School Contingencies and other projects ($10-$20 Million)
Clifton Hills Elementary ($10-$20 Million)
General Government Projects ($10 Million)
Thrasher Elementary ($5 Million)
Recreation Investments ($5 Million)

Certain projects on the list have faced challenges such as Soddy-Daisy Middle.

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said regarding that project, “The school board had either approved either a renovation or a new build. A new build on the site of Soddy-Daisy Middle, the feedback we got from professionals is that it would be near impossible to build an entire new school while maintaining operations, but a hybrid was possible.”

There is also questions about Clifton Hills Elementary’s future, as Dr. Robertson said, “That’s going to be a very difficult undertaking to continue operations there or add on or do something new. Especially considering the shift in flood plains.”

According to Hamilton County’s GIS map detailing flooding risks, the current Clifton Hills site sits in a 100 year flood risk as is much of the Rossville Boulevard corridor.

A brand new school called North River Elementary, which combines DuPont, Alpine Crest, and Rivermont Elementaries, could be among the first of these projects to be built.

Mayor Wamp said on North River, “It is a site that is conducive to the current operations continuing while a new school is being built, that in our diligence proved to be one of the most complex factors.”

Additionally, the Gateway technical school project, voted by the school board in January as their top priority project.

The county is considering doing this project in phases due to its complexity, but some want to see the whole project done faster.

Commissioner David Sharpe said on Gateway, “The fact we have school children still today, mine previously, attending school in a 130 year old school building, and in order for us to get to a point where we can address that, this Gateway project has to happen.”

Mayor Wamp did also add that all of these projects will not be able to happen at once, but hope to begin awarding construction contracts for the first of these projects relatively soon.

The county commission will vote on this 260 million dollar bond issue next week.