When will a new Smithville Elementary School be built?

July 31, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

When will a new Smithville Elementary School be built?

Five years ago (2019), the first schematic site plans were developed for the Board of Education by architects of Upland Design Group to build a new Pre-K to 2nd grade school adjacent to Northside Elementary School and the following year (2020) the board purchased the property, a 24.5-acre site on North Congress Boulevard. The price paid was $18,000 per acre for a total of $441,000.

School Plans

In the fall of 2022, the site plan was updated and shown for the first time to the county commission in a joint meeting with the school board and architects. The total estimated project cost at that time was $46,199,875. Today, it’s more than $53 million, according to updated cost projections.

Last week, County Mayor Matt Adcock informed the county commission that he requested and had received some preliminary new estimates from Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

“He sent a new estimated cost of the building, which did not include everything. I haven’t yet had an opportunity to talk with him to fully understand what all of that number covers but it came to $53, 414, 625 which included construction and site work for a 124,207 square foot building at $375 dollars per square foot, additional bus and car driveways to connect the two schools, $32,000 for a survey, $10,000 for an additional sub surface investigation, $200,000 for construction testing, $1,250,000 for construction contingencies , architectural and engineering fees of $2,360,000, fire marshal review costs of $85,000, and loose furniture at $2,250,000. Playground costs were not included,” said County Mayor Adcock.

In March, the board of education rejected a request from the county to make a one-time contribution of $2 million from the school system’s ($10 million) fund balance reserves to help fund construction of the new school. Skeptical of the move, Director Cripps and the Board said taking $2 million from the school system’s fund balance or reserve account would be digging a little too deeply, especially at a time when the school district has other needs which require funding. However, by contributing the $2 million dollars, County Mayor Adcock and the county’s fiscal agent Steve Bates, said a $40 million school construction project could be funded perhaps over a 15-year period instead of 30 years without a property tax increase or even a wheel tax, coupled with using available local option sales tax funds and interest income on bond proceeds. Under that plan, the county would have needed a commitment from the cities within the county and school board to extend the existing sales tax agreements between the parties which expire July 16, 2037. In those agreements, the cities turn over to the county for schools a greater percentage of their local option sales tax collections than they are otherwise required to do. That money goes into what is called the Local Purpose Tax Fund for Schools to help fund school operation and debt.

Since then, the county commission has adopted a resolution extending the sales tax agreement for another 30 years until 2067, but the four municipalities within the county must do the same in order for the extension to take effect.

County Mayor Adcock said while the cities have been asked to follow suit with the county in extending the sales tax agreements, the municipalities want assurances from the county that a school project will be funded.

“Even though our sales tax agreement with the cities doesn’t expire until 2037, we can’t make any future plans (beyond 13 years) not knowing if that (sales tax) revenue is going to be there or not. The only way we can predict that is by doing this agreement,” said County Mayor Adcock. We (county commission) have already passed our sales tax extension agreement. That’s a 30-year extension to what we already have to 2067. We also made it contingent that the other municipalities also participate in that same sales tax extension agreement. In conversation with some of those municipalities there were a lot of questions on what the actual plan would be for a school. Some of the concerns is they don’t want to keep investing in something when there is no plan,” said County Mayor Adcock.

According to Upland Design Group, the proposed new Pre-K to 2nd grade Smithville Elementary School is 124,207 square feet in size and would be designed to accommodate 800 students with room for future expansion to house up to 300 additional students (1,100) total. The school would be built with 11 classrooms for each grade level of kindergarten, first, and second grade (33 classrooms for 20 students each) along with seven Pre-K classrooms for 20 students each plus four CDC/SPED classrooms as needed. The future expansion would accommodate 15 new classrooms at 20 students each. There would be 189 parking spaces on the campus.

In September 2020 the School Board adopted a traffic plan as proposed by T-Square Engineering based in Franklin and approved by TDOT on how best to get traffic entering the schools off of Highway 56 to reduce congestion.

Under the plan each school (The proposed new Smithville Elementary School and Northside Elementary) would have its own entrance for car traffic off of Highway 56 (North Congress Boulevard) but there would also be a lane connecting the two schools should parents have to pick up and drop off children at both places.

Buses would enter the Northside campus from Smith Road for student pickup/drop off and then would follow a bus (only) lane to the new elementary school for pickup/drop off to be located at the rear of both schools. After making a turnaround at the new school, buses would then exit the same way they entered via the bus lane and then back onto Smith Road.

No construction or alterations would be needed on Highway 56 to accommodate the school traffic plan according to T-Square Engineering.

The existing Smithville Elementary School, originally built in 1958, now is 70,557 square feet in size, and had an enrollment of 550 students in August 2023. As far back as 2017, a facilities study by Upland Design Group, concluded that the school, which has mold and other concerns, should be replaced and repurposed for other uses.

July 30, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

A Liberty man was arrested last week after he was spotted driving a stolen vehicle.

34-year-old Dustin Kane Underhill of Tubb Street, Liberty is charged with theft of property. He is under a $50,000 bond and his court date is August 15.

Chief Deputy Brian Williams of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department said that on July 25 Underhill allegedly stole a 2016 Ford F150 4×4 valued at $37,000 from a driveway on Groom Street, Liberty. Criminal investigators spotted the stolen vehicle traveling on North Congress Boulevard in Smithville and pulled it over. Underhill, the driver, was placed in custody.

Meanwhile another man charged with stealing two batteries and a passing a forged check will be in court August 7.

27-year-old Tyler Michael Boyer of Whorton Springs Road, Smithville is under a total bond of $5,500 on charges of forgery and theft of property.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on July 23 Boyer was found in possession of two Dewalt 20-volt batteries with the initials LWB engraved on the bottom belonging to the victim. The batteries were valued at $102. 50. Two days later on July 25, Boyer allegedly committed forgery by writing and cashing a check in the amount of $705. The case was investigated by sheriff’s department detectives.

45-year-old Marcelo Cruz Gomez of Page Drive, Smithville is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and driving on a revoked /suspended license. His total bond is $32,000 and he will make a court appearance on August 15.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on July 25 Gomez pulled a Jennings 9-millimeter gun and placed it to the back left side of the victim’s head causing him to fear imminent bodily injury. Another victim, a woman also feared for her life.

20-year-old Bryan Scott Woodard of McMinnville is charged with driving without a license, possession of a handgun while under the influence, and underage driving while impaired. His bond is $7,500 and he will be in court August 15.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on July 25 a deputy was traveling west on Midway Road when he spotted a black Chevy Camaro leave its lane of travel several times. The officer pulled over the vehicle and spoke with the driver, Woodard who smelled of alcohol and had red, watery eyes, slurred speech, and he was unsteady on his feet. Woodard admitted to having consumed alcoholic beverages and smoking marijuana prior to driving. He refused to submit to field sobriety tasks. The deputy also spotted in plain sight a Rohm RG10 22 caliber revolver on the front seat.

58-year-old Edward Dale Caldwell of Cookeville Highway is charged with driving on a revoked/suspended license. He is under a $1,500 bond and his court date is August 15.

Chief Deputy Williams said that on July 27 a deputy was traveling Cookeville Highway when a red Chevy Silverado swerved into his lane of travel near Poplar Street almost causing a crash. The officer pulled over the vehicle and spoke with the driver, Caldwell who said he was turning into the parking lot of Glassworks and did not see the patrol car. A background check revealed that Caldwell’s driver license was revoked due to a DUI.

41-year-old Carlos Edward Lopez Stiff of Nashville Highway, Dowelltown is charged with aggravated assault. His bond is $15,000 and he will make a court appearance on August 8. Chief Deputy Williams said that on July 27 Stiff allegedly struck his wife in the face causing injury. He also allegedly tried to strangle her.

32-year-old Hope Leigh Lachenauer of East Bryant Street, Smithville is charged with aggravated assault. She is under a $6,500 bond and her court date is August 8. Chief Deputy Williams said that on July 27 Lachenauer allegedly hit a family member in the head with a metal water can causing injury during an argument.

July 30, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Two DeKalb County Schools were briefly on lock down Monday but there was nothing to be alarmed about. No students were there, and it was only a drill!

Members of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Smithville Police Department, and Special Agent Jimmy Puckett of the Tennessee Department of Safety Homeland Security conducted the lock down exercises at Smithville Elementary School and Northside Elementary School to make sure all interior doors were secured and teachers on site were safe.

The DeKalb County School District, in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, conduct these safety protocols periodically at the schools to prepare for any possible future outside threat.

It’s called “Intruder drills” and it is something the state requires local districts to conduct at least once a year.  Similar drills will be held in the coming days at DCHS, DeKalb Middle School, and DeKalb West School and in some cases, students will be present when the lock down exercises are conducted. The Alexandria Police Department is expected to participate with the sheriff’s department at DeKalb West School.

“These drills are among the state mandated trainings we have to conduct for safety,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps. “We call it our lock down drill. It’s an opportunity for officers within the city and county to walk through our school buildings to make sure teachers are inside their locked down areas. These drills are important for us to prepare should anything unexpected ever happen. The drills today were done without students here, but we plan to do some next week with students in the building,” said Director Cripps.

According to Joey Reeder, safety director for the DeKalb County School District, the school conducting the “intruder drill” is locked down and local law enforcement officers are called upon to make a walkthrough of the school to make sure all doors are locked. That means greater fortification of schools to make it more difficult for an intruder to enter them.

“Basically, an intruder drill is where our entire school building is locked down and wherever you are at you get in the closest room,” Reeder explained. “If it happens during a normal school day when kids are in class, we lock the doors, get the kids away from the windows and doors, and try to be as quiet as we can. It’s sad we are at this place in the world that we have to keep our doors locked at all times but under state law all exterior doors have to be locked and we encourage teachers to keep the interior doors locked also. It causes some aggravation but its another layer of safety. That’s what we are about is trying to keep as many kids, faculty, and staff as safe as we can.”

The intruder drills serve a twofold purpose, according to Reeder, by putting into practice the school safety protocols and by making local law enforcement officers more familiar with the layout of the schools and they are welcome to stop in anytime.

“Our feeling on these drills is that not only does it help our schools but it’s a great deal of help to our law enforcement. Anytime we can get law enforcement in our buildings, walking around we believe that is a good thing and they are more than welcome to come. I don’t care what department they are with, Smithville, Alexandria, Sheriff’s Department, they are welcome in any of our buildings at any time,” said Reeder. “We have a lot of officers who just stop and walk through the building, and we appreciate that. Anytime you go by and see a police car outside a school, we believe it serves as somewhat of a deterrent. Fortunately for years we have always had a tremendous relationship with all the law enforcement agencies, and you can tell that by the crowd of them we had here today,” Reeder said.

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