Members of the Carter County Board of Education approved a plan to replace four aging modular classroom units and also approved selling an excess piece of property through auction during a meeting Thursday afternoon.
Previously, the Board had approved the purchase of six modular units from the Unicoi County school system —four double classroom units, one office modular and one open area modular that had been used as a cafeteria space. The modulars are used, but Carter County Director of Schools Dr. Kevin Ward said the units are only a few years old.
On Thursday, the Board approved a plan on how to use those modulars.
“We’ve got one double unit going to Unaka Elementary and that will replace the old Midway unit,” Ward said. The old Handley modular, was moved from the old Midway Elementary School when it closed to Unaka Elementary.
The remaining three double classroom units will also be used to replace old Handley modulars — one at Happy Valley Elementary, one at Keenburg Elementary and one at Little Milligan Elementary.
Ward also presented the Board with his suggestion for the use of the office and open space modulars.
“I am proposing we take the office unit and put it on State Line Road and use it as a tech center,” Ward said. “This will give our tech staff more room to work on the computers and to actually store some of their equipment and parts.”
The unit would be placed on property owned by the school system adjacent to the current school bus garage, which Ward said would allow the school system to tap into the utilities already on site.
Ward proposed the open space modular also be placed at the same site and used to create secured storage for testing supplies, text books and other items as well as creating a training room that could be utilized by school system staff for workshops and in-service training.
The proposal by Ward differed from uses for the non-classroom modulars which had been previously discussed. One of the original ideas had been to place the modulars in the same location but to use them for office space for school system programs that are currently housed in the Workforce Development Complex.
Currently, the school system pays $21,000 a year in rent to the WDC for nine offices, but Ward said the rent also includes the price of all utilities.
When considering whether or not to move the offices from the WDC to the modular units, Ward said he and school system employees looked at the cost of rent versus the costs of utilities for the modular units and determined it would not be cost effective to move the offices out of the WDC. Of the total cost of rent, Ward said the school system itself only has to fund $11,000 because a portion of the rent is subsidized with federal money because some of the offices house federal school project programs.
Once all of the variables were considered, Ward said it was a better financial decision for the school system to retain the offices at the WDC and use the modular units for another purpose.
Members of the board unanimously approved the plan as presented by Ward.
In other business, the Board also unanimously approved putting a parcel of excess property up for auction.
In 2014, the school system purchased a nearly 8-acre tract of land on Highway 91 near the Elizabethton Airport with hopes of constructing a new middle school. Those plans were later scrapped and the school system had previously discussed the possibility of selling the property.
On Thursday, Board member Craig Davis made a motion for the school system to put the property up for auction with a minimum bid of $250,000. Under state law, any government owned property — whether it be real estate, vehicles, office equipment or any other item — must be sold at auction.
“Any thing we sell has to be bid out at auction,” Carter County Finance Director Christa Byrd explained to the Board. “We can’t just negotiate with someone.”
Board member Steve Garland asked where the figure of $250,000 came from and Ward explained that price would cover the money the school system spent on the property as well as the costs incurred from selling it. “It’s what we have tied up in it,” Ward said.
The board voted unanimously to place the property up for auction using Royston Auction with the minimum bid and also reserving the right to either approve or disapprove the winning bid on the property.
Board members also heard a report on recent graduates from Ward, who told the Board the counselors for the county’s four high schools had turned in information on scholarships awarded to students in the Class of 2016. The total value of scholarships — both academic and athletic — earned by this year’s graduating class came in at $5,041,192 according to Ward.
“I think that is a very positive thing for our high schools and great opportunities for our students,” he said.