Barker then went on a long explanation of how great Lenoir City High School was and claimed they had plenty of space available for 200-250 more students at their high school. Back in 2022, Barker claimed they had room for 100 more students.

I reminded Ms. Barker that Lenoir City mayor, Tony Aikens and his obedient council, had approved more than 5,500 new residential homes by plat or rezone in the last three years. Ms. Barker didn't even seem to understand what I said. She just kept saying they had room for 200 more students. As unbelievable as it sounds, she even raised concerns about tax payers not needing to pay higher taxes for the school. Again, I reminded her she personally had just lost a campaign to raise taxes. That didn't seem to phase her either. It just seemed that no facts were going to get in the way of her speech. Myself and other commissioners let Ms. Barker know, with certainty, that we would be taking guidance from the county school board and administrators, not her.

While Barker seemed to be obsessed with the fact they could take another 200 students, she might want to get some of her math students to help her out. The city approves 5,500 new homes. Using councilman Eddie Simpson's logic for approving all the new homes, that half will never be built, than maybe there will only 2,750 new homes. Then let's be real conservative and say of those 2,750 new homes, mostly apartments, they only average a half a kid per unit, That would be 1,375 kids to be educated somewhere. But Barker has room for 200 more students. The current entire Lenoir City school system enrollment is about 2,500.

The idea of the city school director trying to tell the county commission what the county school board and director should be or not be doing is unprecedented. It was one of the most arrogant and condescending things I've ever heard. Loudon County director of schools was also in attendance at the meeting. I asked him if he had ever gone to Lenoir City council to tell them and the city school board how they should be doing business. He confirmed, he had not.

The facts of the matter are, Ms. Barker knows full well that if the new county high school is built, it will decimate the enrollment of Lenoir City High School. And under the new state funding formula, the money follows the students which would mean major money loss for her. You may even remember, last year, the city school board tried to buy the land from under the county school board just before they closed on the deal. There seems to be some serious desperation on Barker's part.

The building program the county school board has proposed isn't just to address the space and growth issues for the next 3-5 years as Barker seems to want to do, the county plan will address growth for the next 40-50 years.

Ms. Barker's trip to county commission may have done more to bring support for the new high school than any event so far. The biggest news provided by Barker was that Lenoir City schools are not ready or prepared in any shape, form or fashion for what the mayor and council have unleashed on the city and county.

Ms. Barker did make it crystal clear that not only does the county desperately need the new school, but that it better be built far sooner than later. 

Below is a link to the video of the meeting. It got pretty lively at times. Barker's comments begin at the 3:00 minute mark of the video.

Click Here For Video