The tax increase and the school building plan have become quite the topic on some social media platforms, driven by three or four mostly uninformed individuals who have no problem in saying anything whether there's any truth to it or not. The most controversial part of the proposed building plan is the construction of a new 7-12 middle/high school.

There are those who claim that a new high school is not needed, and they may be right, today or maybe not next year or maybe even the year after that. But no one can deny the need for the high school isn't coming, very quickly. Most all of the anti-high school pundits will readily admit that the county school system has an immediate need for more middle school and elementary class space. Even the esteemed, soon to be former director of Lenoir City schools, Dr. Barker, agreed to that when she addressed the county commission a few weeks ago, just before she resigned her position.

More than three years ago, the Loudon County school board began to develop a plan for growth on the north end of the county. The need for a new middle school on the north end was a given. As the board worked through the process, the decision was made to go beyond just the immediate middle school plan and include a high school to the plan. No one can deny that as fast as the county is growing, a new high school will be needed in the very near future.

To the naysayer's who claim the new high school isn't needed, I guess we should assume they mean never ever will an additional county high school be needed? If so, that's a pretty short sighted view of Loudon County given that Loudon County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state, the fastest growing this side of Nashville, and the 63rd fastest growing county in the country. The school board and administration has been working on this proposal for more than three years, using all the latest information and data available. I would have far more confidence in their conclusions than that of a couple of disgruntled former property owners with their own agenda. 

Then there are those who are objecting to a property tax increase. Loudon County has not had a property tax increase since 2011, for the previous school building program. In fact, the property tax rate was reduced by four cents in 2014. The county general fund hasn't had a property tax increase since 2007-08.

If the board of education had of decided to build just a new middle school, a property tax increase would have still been needed, maybe a little less, but a tax hike none the less. I would imagine that if the board had proposed just a new middle school and in four or five years when they had to come back to ask for money for a high school, the naysayer's would go crazy again then complaining the county couldn't plan ahead and should have built the new high school along with the middle school. They would complain that the county never plans ahead, just providing band-aid fixes and just think how much cheaper it would have been if we had just built the high school at the same time we built the middle school in 2024. 

The reality is, the county should have had their own north end high school years ago. For one school system to be dependent on another school system to educate their students is just a problem in the making. We already know that the Lenoir City high school is quickly running out of room and as they do, would consider eliminating enrollment of county students and/or charging tuition for county students. Then what does the county do?

As we already know, if the property tax increase is passed, at the very best, the earliest the new school could open would be August 2027, likely later. It would then take at least 2-3 more years or longer to populate the 7-12 facility. So for 5-6 years, the new school would for all practical purposes, be a middle school. Is there anybody who can predict what Loudon County's population will look like by then? Lenoir City officials have already approved more than 5,000 new residential units. Due to the length of time it takes to bring a new school on line, waiting is not an option. 

I want to applaud the Loudon County school board and administration for being proactive and forward thinking and looking out for the future and the welfare of education in Loudon County.