White Pine School And Capital Projects List Find Funding
Students and staff at White Pine School will soon be under construction and the project will be on a larger scale than was expected earlier this year thanks to recent action on the part of the Jefferson County School Board. Late last month the School Board approved, in a 5-2 vote, a motion offered by School Board Member Potts that laid to rest the question of funding for White Pine School renovation project which had been appropriated $2 million dollars of combined funds from the County Commission and the School Board, but was still hoping for an additional $800,000 to cover the cost of plan alternatives that would more fully answer the space needs at the school. Potts brought a motion, which was seconded by Board Member Bradley, which earmarked $800,000 of the Department of Education’s $2.1 million dollar usable fund balance to fully fund the $2.8 million dollar renovation of White Pine School. Potts motion also addressed the request of the County Commission regarding the distribution of left over JCHS renovation funds, as well as appropriating $715,000 to fund the recently approved Department of Education’s Capital Projects for 2016/17. In total, the motion tallied a little over $1.5 million dollars, funding multiple project needs in Jefferson County and the cost of the motion will be covered, in its entirety, with excess fund available in the Department of Education fund balance. Around $650,000 will remain in the fund balance for additional projects or needs.
Though White Pine School will receive $800,000 of additional money toward its renovation project, other schools in the County were recognized on the Capital Projects list for this fiscal year including window replacement at Jefferson Middle School, Maury Middle School and New Market, Piedmont, Rush Strong, Talbott, Dandridge and White Pine Elementary Schools. It also includes a system wide intercom/communications upgrade for all schools, parking lot lighting for Jefferson Elementary and Security lighting in rear parking lot for Dandridge Elementary. Jefferson Academy will receive like keyed locks, Maury will be getting a common lock/key system and exterior doors will be repaired at New Market Elementary School. Jefferson County High School will be equipped with a Fine Arts Lift System, as a part of the motion. Needs at the Jefferson County High School Baseball Field, which had been addressed as a safety risk, were previously funded through capital projects funds identified in the current budget.
Leaders in both the County and Department of Education commented on the action taken by the Board. Director of Jefferson County School Edmonds said “I appreciate the action to approve money to finish White Pine School and I am hopeful that we can complete the base bid plus the alternatives with the approved funding. We will have more of an idea of the total cost when the bids come back, which will hopefully be soon.”
Jefferson County Director of Finance Potts stated “I am glad to see the project fully funded for White Pine School and in a manner that does not add any additional debt to the County. It is also encouraging to see funding for other capital project needs, with both the White Pine renovation and the Capital Project List funded in a fiscally responsible way by the School Board.”
Jefferson County Budget Committee Chairman Scarlett, who will be seeing the fund allocation in the form of a budget amendment at the next Budget Committee meeting, also found the action to be favorable, saying “In my mind, the School Board did everything that the County Commission asked that they do and more. It is nice to see productive things happening for the students in Jefferson County that are done in a responsible way, in regard to the budget. The School Board has the money to fund the remaining part of the White Pine project, as well as their Capital Projects List, and I think that it was a positive move on their part to earmark those funds.”
Mayor Palmieri stated that he, too, is happy that White Pine School will see the full renovation project “I would like to see the Department of Education and Jefferson County develop a comprehensive plan to address space and renovation needs so that we are not always behind and running to catch up.”
County Commissioner David Seal was instrumental in the request from the County Commission to send funding back to the County from monies left over from the JCHS renovation project. Seal is also a teacher at Jefferson County High School and a part of many of the productions that are produced by Jefferson County High School students. He expressed his appreciation of the funding of the White Pine School Project, as well as other projects that will impact students across the County. Seal stated “When the Jefferson County School Board moved to reserve funding for White Pine School in the amount of $800,000, release funding that remained from the High School renovation project to Jefferson County, and utilize funds in the amount of $715,000 from the school system fund balance for capital projects, it moved in the direction of funding badly needed, high priority projects within the school system, including the remaining $800,000 of the 2.8 million dollar White Pine School Project and the $165,000 Lift System for the New Performing Arts Center. The Lift System in the PAC was not in the original scope of work at JCHS. However, it does represent a critical element in producing shows in the new facility, thus the high priority on the capital funding list. Hundreds of students, and teachers, from all areas of Performing Arts will benefit from the improvement. No funding was subtracted from the White Pine School project for the capital equipment purchase for the PAC. The Potts/Bradley Motion [School Board] (September 26, 2016) represents a high level of insight into the needs of both the School System and Jefferson County. The County Commission Budget Committee will hear and consider the Budget Amendment on October 11, 2016. I make these comments as a teacher involved with the performing arts at JCHS, a participant in the design of the Performing Arts Center, and as a County Commissioner charged with the best use of public resources for Jefferson County.”
Perhaps the person with the most appreciation for the recent actions of the School Board is the man who walks the halls of White Pine School daily, facilitating the needs of students and staff at the school, Principal Bill Walker. He communicated the general feeling of those that occupy White Pine School saying “We are very excited that our school can be completed at one time. The actions of the School Board and County Commission should give us much needed space for students and staff.” He summed it up simply but effectively with “It is a good day for White Pine School”.
