The Knoxville School Board met in regular session Monday. The board heard from the Facilities Task Force which is made up of 20 Knoxville residents with ties to the school district. The task force spoke to the board about the need for certain projects to be undertaken within the next three to five years based on a facilities assessment conducted by Estes Construction this past spring. Based on the task force’s own priority matrix they proposed to the board a three phase proposal with suggested projects to bring Knoxville closer to 21st century learning. Chris Nichols with the task force told the board the first project in phase one of the proposal is for the construction of a new middle school. Nichols says the current middle school was built in the 50’s and is close to 70 years old in a 70 year location. The new middle school project would also include renovations and a gym addition to Northstar Elementary and could cost approximately $26 million dollars and would be paid for by General Obligation Bonds which would be voted on by the Knoxville community in March of 2020.

Following the proposal the board voted to approve the proposal setting the path for the task force to continue to pursue the project. The board also approved CMBA  Architects as the architects for the potential project. The board approved the hiring of Carla Smith as the Head Varsity Softball Coach as wells as approved two late open enrollment requests. They approved the School Improvement Advisory Committee Members as well as the second reading of policies regarding goals and objectives of the education program. The board approved the purchase of two new buses for the district totalling $181,740 as well as approved a request for allowable growth and supplemental aid for a negative special education balance. A closed session was also held with no action being taken.