RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — With Rutherford County Schools possibly seeing thousands more students within the coming years, school board members have started looking for more cost-effective ways to meet the district’s growing needs.
Over the last several school years, the district has seen an average of 1,000 to 1,200 new students each year. Board members have worked to keep up with growth through annexing and redistricting.
“If we were to theoretically build according to how many students we were generating, we would need to build at least one [new] school a year,” Rutherford County School Board Vice Chair, Frances Rosales, said.
With the high cost of construction, Rosales said the district has started looking at how to tackle the demand in smaller parts.
“Building a new high school at [a] capacity of 2,500, where you're looking at costs of construction at $175 million-$200 million," Rosales said. "Cut it in half and the thought is that if we cut down on the capacity, then that will also cut down on the cost of construction."
RCS is getting ready to open Poplar Hill Elementary School in the fall then will open a middle school on the same piece of property in 2026. It's a strategy board members also discussed Tuesday night, as they consider a 164-acre piece of property on Lee Road.
“Potentially, we can fit not just one school there; we can also fit at least three schools, so now we're going back to building schools that are more serving neighborhood schools, versus building a high school here and then trying to find land somewhere else to build the middle school that is going to be a feeder,” Rosales said.
The 164-acre property still needs to go through multiple inspections before it can be approved for the district.