Lenoir City council reviews school board's $20 million bond plan to ease overcrowding

Lenoir City council members and school officials reviewed a school board proposal to seek roughly $20 million in new borrowing to build a replacement intermediate/middle school and reconfigure grade assignments to relieve overcrowding.

Brandon (school official) said the district has seen sustained growth at the intermediate middle school and proposed moving third grade so the district could house grades 3'5 together and separate grades 6'8. "We have seen growth in our district specifically with our intermediate middle school," Brandon said, adding that combining grades 3, 4 and 5 would improve teacher planning, social-emotional supports and vertically aligned testing and instruction.

School leaders told the council the district is asking municipal advisors to structure a bond issue with a 25-year amortization and to use existing fund balances to lower the amount borrowed. Officials said they plan to start with roughly $26 million of resources: $6 million already set aside in a capital projects account plus sales-tax fund balances, and to offer contractors about $24 million while holding $2 million for contingencies and furnishings. A construction estimate previously cited by the district was about $28 million; school staff said they were reworking the plan to fit the lower budget.

Why it matters: The proposal would alter how elementary and middle…