During Monday’s Knoxville School Board meeting the board voted to approve a proposal from the Facilities Task Force setting the path for the task force to continue to pursue certain projects deemed necessary by the task force to help bring Knoxville closer to 21st century learning. The first major project the task force is pursuing is the construction of a new Knoxville Middle School as well as renovations to Northstar Elementary. Knoxville School’s Superintendent Cassi Pearson tells KNIA/KRLS News the middle school and former high school built in the 1950’s isn’t serving the needs of the district like is used to. Pearson says the task force first looked at remodeling the building and it was quickly determined a remodel would cost close to the same as building an entirely new school. She says for the task force it was a “no brainer” that a new school needed to be built and bring Knoxville into the 21st century. Pearson says following the school board’s approval, the next step for the project is for the architects and contractors to produce potential renderings of what the new school might look like and how it will improve the learning. The new middle school project would also include renovations, HVAC installation and a gym addition to Northstar Elementary and could cost approximately $26 million dollars. The project could be paid for by General Obligation Bonds which would be voted on by the Knoxville community in March of 2020.