County Commissioner Joe Graham on Wednesday suggested that some of the under-utilized schools, such as Brainerd High, Tyner High and Tyner Middle be merged and CSLA move to one of the vacated schools.
He said, "We could clean up one of the closed buildings and we would not have to spend close to $70 million on one project. We all know it would be hard to come up with that much money for one project."
Commissioner Graham said he does not see replacing CSLA at the current site as high on the list as it was placed by the school board - second behind a new $35 million Harrison Elementary.
He said steps need to be taken now to repair the building at CSLA for the 482 students there now.
Interim Supt. Kirk Kelly said maintenance workers "have constantly been in the school and the situation is much better."
Commissioner Graham said the schools "are sitting on close to $60 million in reserve funds." He said using $25 million of that amount could handle the most serious building needs and make a large dent in mechanical, electrical and utility needs.
Commissioner Warren Mackey also focused on the schools utilizing under-used buildings rather than focusing on new construction.
He mentioned zoning more students to those schools with many empty classrooms.
Commissioner Mackey said, "Let the school board do their job and put the students where the empty classrooms are."
Commissioner Graham said school board members "need to step up and make the tough decisions. It looks like they are leaning on us. They need to do the jobs they were elected to do."
Dr. Kelly said rezoning would not go far in solving overcrowding issues and he said the schools want to"minimize concentrated poverty."
He said, "We still need the additions."
Commissioners Tim Boyd and Randy Fairbanks said steps need to be taken to solve $5 million in roofing issues, saying that can cause the whole school to deteriorate.