Just a couple weeks ago

Just a couple weeks ago, the Loudon County School Board was complaining that if the county didn't give them more money, they might have to layoff teachers. The county didn't give them any more money. Now they're ready to spend $30,000.00 to $100,000.00 for a study to tell them what they need to do in ten years. Can anybody say "out of touch with reality?

County BOE considers consultant

Jeremy Nash news-herald.net

Loudon County Board of Education during a Thursday workshop continued discussion about hiring a facility consultant to help develop a long-range plan.

Director of Schools Jason Vance told board members three firms had submitted a request for qualifications. Documents obtained after the workshop show the three firms are MGT Consulting Group, Orcutt Winslow and Cooperative Strategies LLC.

Work would include consideration of zoning, the way schools are routed, an out-of-county policy and school configurations, Vance said.

Vance asked for the board to either give him autonomy to talk to Loudon County Purchasing Director Susan Huskey, or for the board to reform a committee to look at a best fit for the district before soliciting a dollar figure. The price could range from $35,000-$100,000, he said.

“I think it could be great information and very valuable to our school system as we make planning decisions for years to come, but I think that we need to select a very specific person and then approve that and then determine what kind of time frames we might have in years to come as far as what we would want them to do,” Vance said.

BOE Chairman William Jenkins asked Vance if he was advising members to move forward with a plan because the board was already looking at a low fund balance in the near future.

The board could have a fund balance of $1.2 million at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year.

“My personal opinion is we’ve got enough financial issues right now,” LeRoy Tate, board member, said. “That’s something we could use the $100,000 on teachers or several items that we could use in the classroom. Right now this is not an opportune time for that. Not saying it wouldn’t be beneficial, but right now it would not be a good use of money, in my opinion.”

Board member Gary Ubben disagreed, noting the price didn’t have to be as high as $100,000 to get needed information.

“It always could be used somewhere else,” Ubben said. “However, if we wait too long we’re not talking about $30,000, we’re talking about several million dollars. If we don’t move ahead with a plan and all of a sudden we’re caught with the need for a new building and we’ve made no plans for it, we have our zoning issues to deal with.

“There’s all kinds of things — the policy of out-of-county students that we’re talking about, all kinds of things that this consultant should look at and give us some help with,” he added. “I think the need is now, not five years from now.”

If the board moves forward with a consultant, Jenkins said Lenoir City Schools should be involved.

“If we have a specific number — if it’s $30,000 — if it’s just going to cost us 15 (thousand dollars) and we can get Lenoir City to cover 15,” Jenkins said. “Fifteen’s not that bad, but if it’s going up around $100,000 and we’re having to pay 50, I still think that’s too much money because that’s still a teacher.”

Vance said he had spoken with Lenoir City Director of Schools Jeanne Barker about plans, but not recently.

“But if they won’t do it, it doesn’t preclude us not doing it,” Ubben said. “I think we need to do it anyway. ... Really a lot of the decisions are decisions that are going to affect both school systems, so it would be great if they would participate with us. My feeling is that we don’t know enough. We know what the capabilities are of these three firms that responded, but we don’t know anything about price really other than that really broad range.”