News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Pickett County Commissioners expected to discuss next steps on Pickett County High School during Monday’s Commission meeting.
Pickett County Director of Schools Diane Elder said she hopes the meeting will lay out the first steps for exploring both options, build a new school or renovate the current facility. Elder said the building is old but she believes renovating the school would be the best option for the county.
“I think we need to renovate,” Elder said. “That’s my personal opinion. Yeah, I would love to see a new school but I just don’t think the taxpayers of Pickett County can pay for a $25 million to $40 million building.”
Elder said the building has several issues and the school board is waiting to see what comes out of the meeting before addressing those issues. Elder said she does not expect a decision to be made at the meeting but hopefully, the county will begin to have some groundwork on what can be done about the building.
“This is just a preliminary meeting that we are having between the board and the commissioners to decide what we need to do first,” Elder said.
Elder said she believes renovating is not only a cheaper option but it could also be completed within a shorter time period than building a new school. Elder said even though the building has several issues she does not have a timeline of when she would like to have a decision made.
“I just play it by ear and just go with what the decision-makers tell me to do,” Elder said.
The commission meeting will take place on Monday at 6pm beside the Pickett County Library. Elder said after the meeting she and County Executive Stephen Bilbey will have a private meeting to discuss if another joint meeting between the county commission and the school board will be needed.
