TVA Tower Doesn't Meet District Needs

There are a lot of high-powered people working very hard to convince the public that moving the Knox County Schools Administrative Offices and the Board of Education into the TVA East Tower is a great deal. It seems that they believe convincing the public will, in turn, pressure the Board of Education to accept this highly questionable deal. If it were a great deal and if it were in the best interests of our students and staff, we would be overjoyed.

It is not a great deal and it is not in the best interests of our students and staff.

It should be concerning to all citizens, that Knox County officials are ignoring the clearly expressed needs of the school administration.

Some of the needs that have been expressed, to best serve our staff and students:

A campus-style location
Adequate space to bring in services currently scattered throughout the county
A location that is easily accessible to parents and community members, as well as staff
Adequate space to hold public meetings
Free and easily accessible parking for staff and visitors

The TVA East Tower does not meet these needs.

What Do Other Districts Do?

The chart below shows how other districts in Tennessee meet the needs listed above. Of all other district offices I looked at, 100% met these needs. Knox County is a notable exception.

This chart is not meant to show all information possible, but only a comparison between districts.

District	Campus Style?	Former School?	Board Mtgs Here?	Other Offices at This Location	Outside Offices	Parking
Current KCS	No	No	No	Great Schools Partnership	Maintenance Textbooks Warehouse Assistive Technology	Paid Garage (Two paid garages for BOE members)
Proposed KCS	No	No	No	TBA		Paid Garage (Two paid garages for BOE members)
Bradley County	Yes	No	Yes	Adjacent to Bradley-Central HS		Free Lot
Cleveland City	Yes	?	Yes	Adjacent to Elem & Primary Schools Bus Garage (CTE is located at 350 Central Avenue, Cleveland, TN 37311)		Free Lot
Hamilton County (Chattanooga)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Transportation		Free Lot
Metro Nashville	Yes	?	Yes			Free Lot
Oak Ridge	Yes	Yes	Yes	Family Resource Center (Transportation is at another former school at 100 Woodbury Lane.)		Free Lot
Sevier County	Yes	Yes?	Yes	Adjacent to White’s Adult HS Transportation		Free Lot
Sumner County	Yes	Yes	Yes	Teacher Center Community Use Stadium Maintenance Materials Center Career & Technical Ed		Free Lot
Warren County	Yes	?	Yes			Free Lot