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Jackson County board hears timeline for school construction, targets LGC submittal in Feb. 2026
Summary
District capital projects lead said the Local Government Commission submittal is the critical financing milestone; Fairview and Smoky Mountain High School projects are targeted for LGC review in February 2026 and the district will borrow for project costs to be repaid by the county on the district's behalf.
The Jackson County Public Schools board was given a detailed construction and financing update Tuesday night, with district staff saying the Local Government Commission (LGC) submittal will be the go/no‑go milestone for several major projects.
Jake, the district's capital projects lead, told the board the district does not yet have the funds on hand and will borrow the money the county will advance and the district will repay. He said the district is targeting February 2026 to take Fairview and Smoky Mountain High School (phase 1) to the LGC, after designs, DPI approval and guaranteed maximum price (GMP) submissions are complete.
"On February 2026, we will be going with 2 projects. We'll be going with Fairview and Smoky Mountain High School," Jake said, describing that as the date when the district will know project costs and request borrowing authority. He added that subsequent projects including the Blue Ridge school project and the bus garage are tentatively scheduled for a later submittal window once architects and bidding schedules are complete.
The update emphasized community stakeholder meetings and design refinements. Jake said architects would return to meet with staff and that a recent on‑site visit included construction engineers reviewing final details for the Fairview and Smoky Mountain High projects.
The board was also told a separate procurement step is underway for the Smoky Mountain High science building roof: "We're actually opening bids tomorrow," Jake said, noting state competitive bidding expectations for at least three bids and that the district would reissue the solicitation if insufficient bids are received.
Why it matters: the LGC submittal is a required administrative step for local government borrowing; until designs, DPI approvals and GMPs are finalized, the district cannot request the borrowing amount it will need. The Feb. 2026 timing sets a near-term decision point for capital financing and the scope of phase 1 projects.
The board raised no contested motions on the update and directed staff to continue stakeholder engagement and to bring formal financing requests when costs are finalized.
