Should schools build a new gym at a school they may close in a few years?
The money is approved, but the future of the school is up in the air
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Hamilton County Commissioners will consider a proposal urging the school board to slow down spending money for a new gymnasium at Rivermont Elementary School.
The issue is that there is another proposal to close the school in a few years to build a new one.
The school board has COVID grant money already approved to build the gym.
The school currently doesn’t have any athletic venue and supporters say that kids now are having to take their P-E classes in classrooms.
The commission will consider a resolution next week to urge the schools to hold off setting a contract for the construction until they have a more definitive idea on the future of the school.
They have just over a year to redirect the money into another project if needed.
But Commissioner David Sharpe, who represents Rivermont, is skeptical of the delay.
He says there have been proposals to close the school for almost 20 years now, and it hasn’t happened yet.
But in the meantime, students are not getting athletic services that kids in other parts of the county are getting.
Commissioner Sharpe says he would like to see a concrete promise by the school board and commission to parents that they will, actually, replace the school, before he signs off on delaying the gym construction.
“There needs to be a commitment, spoken and written, that the children of District 6 are going to have their needs met. And we haven’t done that. And I haven’t seen that. And that’s what I would expect any responsible leader in our community would provide to the families and children of this community.”
Here is the resolution that commissioners are debating:
“A resolution to freeze the previous funding allocated to Hamilton County Schools of $1,500,000 of federal American Rescue Plan grant funds for the construction of a multi-purpose play gym at Rivermont Elementary School pending further study.”
