Though the project is years away from construction, some members of the Putnam County School Board are interested in exploring what it would take build a new high school in Cookeville.
Board Member Kerry Ledbetter said it is time to start preliminary discussions for a new high school. Ledbetter said the district will need time to plan, and the county as a whole will need to find the $100 million to build it.
“We don’t want to be behind the eight ball, for sure,” Ledbetter said. “It’d be a process over time and the decisions between the school board and the commission. And everyone knows that it’s going to be needed in the future, it’s just when is that date?”
Board Member Jill Ramsey said parents ask about a way to decrease the size of Cookeville High School regularly. Ramsey said one of the next steps to get the conversation going is to start working with the county commission.
“You can’t just all of sudden decide you’re going to build a high school if you’ve not been planning well in advance,” Ramsey said. “And that’s part of what we do, we have long-term planning on many things. I mean, we know we need more room in the elementary schools, for example, so we talk about what that’s going to look like. So it’s just part of the conversation.”
Ramsey said she is not that concerned about the possibility of students wanting to go to a new high school instead of Cookeville High. Ramsey said the three existing high schools are all excellent and a lot of students in the Cookeville area already go to Upperman or Monterey High.
“Anytime you build a high school especially, the cost of that is a lot more because of the programs,” Ramsey said. “And so equalizing the programs and giving all students the same opportunities is difficult and it costs a lot of money so it’s not something that we take likely and that will be thought through a lot.”
Putnam County currently has an option on a piece of property owned by the City of Cookeville located on Old Sparta Road that could be used for a school. Ramsey said that area of town would be a good site for a high school because there is a lot of growth happening there. Ledbetter said more discussion is necessary but it could be in the school board’s best interest to secure the land for future use.
“If we have an opportunity to do that at a good price now versus later, course things just go up and things are getting more expensive and we know we’re going to need it at some point in the future,” Ledbetter said. “It just would make more sense to do it while it’s a cost savings versus waiting for, as prices get more later.”
Ledbetter said he has not had many parents approach him specifically about a new high school but he knows it has been a reoccurring matter in recent years.
“What we hear from other board members is that it’s needed,” Ledbetter said. “Because some parents are not happy with the large school and the location and just different factors.”
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