Land acquisition for new CMCSS elementary school approved, preferred site off Fort Campbell Blvd.

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Montgomery County Commission passed a resolution during Monday’s formal session that enables the county to purchase land to build another, unnamed CMCSS elementary school, with a preferred site selection off of Fort Campbell Blvd.

Norm Brumblay served as the spokesperson for CMCSS and said the reasoning behind the need for a new elementary school comes from decades of population growth. He said the district has averaged 670 new students annually, and currently have 39,489 total students in their school system.

He also mentioned CMCSS elementary schools are currently at 96% capacity, while middle and high schools are at 90% capacity. However, data shows that elementary schools in region 2 of the county are currently at 100% capacity.

“The need for additional school buildings became evident with the approval of Kirkwood High School,” Brumblay said. “This prompted the County Commission to recommend the revival of the Joint Land Acquisition Committee.”

The Joint Land Acquistion Committee is made up of a large number of county leaders, including members of the County Commission, Regional Planning Commission, Industrial Development Board, CMCSS, etc.

As the committee began operating in Jan. 2022, one of their first objectives was putting together a 10-year facility building plan based off of capacity needs and growth projections in regions of the county.

Brumblay said that since the building plan has been developed, the district has grown by 1,800 students, and two-thirds of the population comes from north of the Red River.

Process for site selection

In March of 2022, the Joint Land Acquisition Committee enabled the RPC to identify possible site selections for the new school. Their focus was centered around areas with the highest residential growth and school capacity needs, according to Brumblay.

After a month, the RPC came back with 19 different options which fit the criteria the committee had been looking for. Then, the list was cut down to eight, which prompted the RPC to conduct a feasibility study for each location.

Based off the study, the RPC found that the most feasible option would be 37 acres of land off of Fort Campbell Blvd. As it turned out, the owner of the property was interested in selling the land and set the price.

One concern was highlighted for the site, which was based around the need for a traffic light.

Brumblay said that if all parties involved can come to an agreement and settle the deal by Jan. 2024, then it is expected for the new CMCSS elementary school to open by 2026.