Loudon County school leaders bre

LENOIR CITY, Tenn. (WVLT) - Loudon County is growing and as more families call East Tennessee home, there’s a need for more schools.

This is all about growth in the county.

A new high school will be built and three other schools will get some needed love and care.

“Right now we’re kind of outgrowing our space,” North Middle School Principal Kayla Vaughn said.

Loudon County Schools has seen growth over the years.

The whole county is one of the fastest growing counties in the state.

“We’re full and it’s filling up everywhere, there’s hardly any land left. You’re seeing a lot of buildings go up apartments, houses,” Bobby Johnson, Loudon County School Board chairman said.

Now, school and county leaders are breaking ground on a new high school in Lenoir City.

It’s a $110 million bond project.

Last year, the county commission voted to increase property tax by 25 cents for a new school.

The bonds include an $81.9 million investment for the new school, $6.8 million for a new athletic facility at Greenback Public School, $6.2 million for 10 new classrooms at Philadelphia Elementary and $1 million for a career technical education program at Loudon High School.

Johnson said there were always plans to adapt to the growth of students and the community.

“We’ve talked about this for years, with the growth coming the way it’s coming, we’ve always planned ahead,” Johnson said.

Vaughn said her school needs the space.

“So we’ve had teachers that have moved to carts, our class sizes are definitely at ratio maximum,” Vaughn said. “So we got some classes that are full, and we are even running out of furniture.”