Williamson Commissioners Wallop School Funding Request

FRANKLIN, TN — Williamson County Commissioners took a proverbial chainsaw to a $46.1 million funding request for land purchases for future schools. A joint meeting of the commission's education and budget committees reduced the intent-to-fund request by more than 70 percent to $13 million.

The school system says it needs 615 acres of land in the next decade to build between 17 and 21 new schools with the student population expected to grow by nearly 20,000 students to 58,201 by 2026. The $46.1 million request was proposed as a way to spend now to save later with land costs rising, but commissioners were concerned about the effect of the outlay on the county's tax rate.

"We do need to develop in advance of our clearly anticipated growth ... but we don't have a crystal ball," County Commissioner Todd Kaestner said according to The Tennessean.

Historically, the school system asks for funding for school land on an as-needed basis.

The $13 million includes $10.5 million for land and $2.5 million for elementary school design fees.

That wasn't the only intent-to-fund request cut by the committees. An asphalt and roofing request was cut from $2.8 million to $760,000. Several requests were withdrawn outright:

• $4.9 million for design and site work for a central high school, middle school and elementary school.
• $45.9 million for design, development and construction for new north elementary and middle schools.
• $9 million for Franklin High School's campus improvements
• $17.2 million for Brentwood High School's campus improvements.
• $6.3 million to increase capacity at College Grove Elementary and Scales Elementary School.
• $6.8 million for auditoriums at Grassland Middle School and Sunset Middle School.

The full county commission will vote on school funding requests Monday, January 9.