By Karen Hall

Editor

The county commission's education committee voted in favor of proceeding with the spending plan presented by Director of Schools Jackie Abernathy and members of the school board.

At the end of a joint meeting of the two groups Tuesday, the vote was three in favor, and one abstention (Commissioner Mickey King).

Abernathy made a presentation to the group. She explained the Board of Education had voted 9-0 in favor of proposing a building program.

The director explained some of the reasons the schools are overcrowded. One is that the law on class sizes has changed. Another is "the special classes we've had to add." These include special education and English as a second language. Computer labs were unknown when the last elementary school was built in Lewisburg; now they are a necessity.

"With the additions, we will have room for growth through 2021," Abernathy said.

Members of the education committee questioned her closely.

Richard Hill asked how many classrooms at Chapel Hill Elementary were used for storage.

"None," exclaimed Abernathy. "We're bursting. We have closets being used for classes, and interventions taking place in the halls on card tables. It's terrible."

Overcrowding at CHES will be alleviated with the construction of the proposed Chapel Hill Intermediate School to house grades four through six. There will be some empty classrooms at CHIS to start with, Abernathy acknowledged, but this is necessary in order to accommodate projected growth.

"Did you explore adding on to the two Chapel Hill schools, instead of building a new school?" asked County Mayor Joe Boyd Liggett.

"We want the sixth grade out of Forrest for academic reasons," Abernathy said. "And Chapel Hill Elementary is at its peak;" the core services like the cafeteria can't handle any more students.

"There were three proposals before the board," she said. "This is Proposal 3, the cheapest that we felt would best fit the needs. We appreciate your support. Nobody's in favor of raising taxes. We've cut this to the bare bones."

Some county commissioners were doubtful about approving the proposal and passing it on to the full commission's meeting Monday with so little time to consider.

"We were going to do a workshop," King said. "We didn't get to prepare. I asked Nathan (Johnson) for a workshop, but we didn't get to do that. Nathan said he had CTAS (County Technical Assistance Service) working on it -- he wanted two opinions."

The county's financial consultant Steve Bates alleviated some of their fears.

"I told the budget committee I recommended converting notes to bonds to free up debt service money," Bates said. "Marshall County hasn't really issued any bonds since about 2003. This is the opportunity you've been waiting for. Rates are at historic lows."

"Can we handle it without a tax increase?" asked committee chairman Rocky Bowden.

"Oh yes," Bates replied. "The county's in good shape."

"You feel comfortable with the full $19.2 million?" asked Bowden.

"Yes," Bates said confidently.

Turning to Abernathy, Bowden asked, "You feel that by adding another school you can do without increasing your maintenance of effort budget?"

"We do," the director said. "We will be able to handle it with an increase in BEP (the state's Basic Education Program)."

"We're serving the same number of children," pointed out school board member Kristen Gold.

King noted by the time school construction is complete, there may be different commissioners, different school board members, and even a different director, all dealing with debts incurred by their predecessors.

"We're committing the next several commissions to pay for it," King said.

"Everybody who sits at this table will be straight up and honest," Bowden reassured him. "The best intentions, that's all we ever have."

After additional discussion with Bates about financial issues, Bowden called for a motion to pass the proposal on to the budget committee, due to meet Thursday, April 18.

Commissioner Anna Childress made the motion to proceed with what the school board had presented, a total of $19,291,380. and the vote was three in favor, with King abstaining.

"That's the way it'll go to the budget committee and the full commission," concluded Bowden.