JOHN COFFELTEditor

Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the Manchester Board of Education have recently approved monies to purchase 85 acres adjacent Batesville Casket Company that will be used for future educational sites in the coming years.

Director of Schools Dr. Joey Vaughn said at the Dec. 6 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting that the land acquisition at $35,000 per acre would be split between the school system and the city, and the roughly $1.5 million from each entity be paid to the owner, Batesville Casket, over two budget years.

“This is an opportunity for all of us to prepare for the future,” Vaughn said.

No timeline for building is currently planned, but the thinking concerning the acquisition is that the school district will retain 70 acres for educational purposes, while 15 acres be set aside for municipal construction, a new police or fire department.

The ownership of the property by the two entities can be handled in one of two basic configurations. One is the creation of an authority with board members appointed by each board to govern the use of the property. The other way would to be put in one entity’s name with the use of the property delineated by resolution. Neither option was decided at the meeting.

Vaughn said that the school district’s portion of property would support two schools. He deferred to the two boards for guidance on exactly that would entail.

The current thinking is that the site could first include a new middle school and possibly an elementary school at some point.

Overcrowding at the two Westwood schools is reaching criticality.

“Ultimately, we’re looking at additions to Westwood Middle, some retrofitting at Westwood Elementary and holding on tight to see what happens at our city,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn said that Westwood Middle numbers are too high for the cafeteria serving lines to handle the number of enrolled students rising from the elementary. In two, possibly three years, the school will need portable classrooms.

“Basically at that time we are looking at the possibility of having to add on Westwood Middle School, …classrooms and a new cafeteria,” he said.

He said that expansion would handle short-term growth. If the growth continues out past five or six years, at that point, the school board could then ask for a new middle school.

The Westwood Elementary fourth and fifth grades could be shifted to Westwood Middle campus after a new middle is built.

Westwood Elementary is a full capacity, Vaughn said. He said that he is working with the fire marshal and the board’s architect to repurpose the old gym into three classrooms.

“But by buying the land, whatever happens, we have the opportunity to put new growth there,” he said.

The remaining College Street Elementary capacity is currently at acceptable levels due to a past buildout that included new classrooms and a cafeteria expansion.

“People are moving here for a reason, and Manchester is a great place to be. We are going to do the best we can with what we have,” Vaughn said.

The resolution to authorize the purchase passed BOMA unanimously, on Dec. 5.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.