CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Even though the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System is undergoing rezoning in anticipation of the opening of a new middle school this fall, the Kirkwood campus will not be the end of the district’s overcrowding issues.
Projections presented to the CMCSS School Board by zoning consultants estimate that even with the new Kirkwood Middle, several middle schools in the district will once again be over 100% capacity by the year 2025-26.
To meet this upcoming demand, seven new school buildings are already on the radar for CMCSS, according to its 20-year construction plans.
No permanent solutions
In the immediate future, the completion of the Kirkwood campus is expected to alleviate much of the district’s issues with overpopulation in its middle and high school buildings. But it won’t be for long.
According to projections from RSP & Associates shared during the rezoning presentation earlier this month, three middle schools are above 100% capacity.
When Kirkwood Middle opens this August, the middle schools above capacity – Northeast, Rossview and West Creek – will see their populations drop to below 93% after rezoning.
However, by the 2024-25 school year, Northeast Middle once again surge over 100% capacity unless portables are used. The following year, another three middle schools pop over capacity, with Kenwood rising above even its additional space with portables.
The district’s high schools are seeing more severe capacity issues, with four currently over capacity even with portables.
With the projected opening of Kirkwood High in the fall of 2023, the district’s high schools will have their boundaries changed to the same lines as the middle schools.
The rezoning proposal seems to fix capacity issues at all of the high schools until 2025-26, when it appears Northeast High hits 104.5% capacity while all but one high school moves past the district’s aim of 85% capacity.
Expanding to demand
According CMCSS’s construction projection plan from the 2019-20 school year, new buildings are already on the district’s radar.
Seven new school buildings are in the works. Through the year 2039, and in addition to the Kirkwood campus, the school system is anticipating building five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school.
In the same time, the district is planning eight elementary school additions. Recently, addition projects have been completed at Rossview, West Creek and Oakland elementary schools.
Norm Brumblay, chief operations officer for CMCSS, said these new capacity projections from RSP & Associates will definitely be considered when they reevaluate future plans in October.
“The areas we anticipate the highest demand for new schools in are the areas we have already seen high demand in,” Brumblay told Clarksville Now.
“Over half of our portables are already located at schools between Fort Campbell, the 101st Parkway, and I-24. We believe this demand will continue and will move east.”
Brumblay added that while the construction plan is updated annually, the school system still must have talks with the Montgomery County government on a timeline.
“While we evaluate our capacities and growth each year to adjust our timelines; that is just part of the process. We then work closely with Montgomery County finance officials to align our construction timelines with the county’s financing capabilities,” Brumblay said.
Feedback opportunities
The school system, in collaboration with RSP & Associates, just wrapped up public feedback sessions about rezoning. They were hosted virtually on Monday and Tuesday evening.
On Feb. 1 at Rossview High, a formal public feedback session will be hosted before the final rezoning proposal is presented to the School Board for approval at their Feb. 8 meeting.
RSP & Associates has also shared an updated online survey where families and community members can share feedback and questions about rezoning until Feb. 8.
Correction: The previous survey created by CMCSS has been replaced with a more detailed survey from RSP & Associates. A link has been added to this story.