Last month, the County Commission approved money for Williamson County Schools (WCS) to buy land in Brentwood for a new K-8 school.
However, the Budget Committee Wednesday night voted 5-0 to defer a vote on a $15 million approval for design and construction of that school, which could delay the project past WCS’s anticipated opening date for it, which is fall 2018. The school site is on Split Log Road.
The school district is facing an influx of students, with projections showing some 20,000 new students and a need for up to 21 new schools in the next 10 years to house them.
The County Commission will vote on the measure Monday and possibly put the school back on track. If not, the opening could be delayed until as late as fall 2019.
Dr. Mike Looney, WCS Superintendent, has said that any delay in funding would set back the opening– and that the funding requests are already pared down to the minimum needed.
As far as new funding, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The district anticipates needing nearly $600 million over the next 10 years to pay for the needed new schools.
The county, which is the funding body for all of that, however, wants to be sure it knows how to pay for the new schools before it starts approving the funds for them.
“Under the current model of funding, as early as next year we would need a new source of revenue,” County Mayor Rogers Anderson said. “If we approve the funding we would need to raise taxes or find another source, under the current way of funding.”
The county and school board plan to get together to discuss options.
“We all understand there are ways to lessen the impact i.e. property taxes but we all have to be on the same page on how to fund not just $15 million but $500 million,” Anderson said. “The deferral was a move to take a let’s wait and see here. I think we can get there. We just have to send a message loud and clear when we approve something that we also have to pay for it. ”
