Roane County and school system push long-term capital-planning RFQ; commissioners seek transparency

County and school officials told Roane County commissioners on May 12 that a request for qualifications (RFQ) to select a firm for long-term school capital planning will go to the school board at its next meeting and, if approved, be issued immediately.

The RFQ is intended to engage a consultant to study current and past conditions, assess district needs, and produce broad recommendations for facilities and long-range planning; the contracting firm will not make final construction decisions, the county executive said.

Commissioners and members of the public asked whether a multi-year, $100 million school project was imminent and whether taxpayers should expect a tax increase. The county executive and staff cautioned that the county is not yet in a position to make that decision and that long-term planning would take several months. "If we move forward with a $100,000,000 bill to plan that, yeah, we require a tax increase," the county executive said, adding that the goal is to keep long-range planning credible and to consider creative revenue options.

A commissioner asked the county executive to send a letter to the school board requesting that, until the board can provide live streaming, school-board meetings be held at the county seat so more citizens can view them. Commissioners and staff emphasized they could not assume future revenue streams from prospective companies and that any plan requiring major funding would be brought back to commissioners for decision.

Next steps: the RFQ goes to the school board for approval; if approved it will be issued immediately, and the hired firm will take several months to complete a system-wide study and return recommendations to the school board and county.