The final third of funding for a new elementary school in Knoxville will be up to voters in the November General Election.

At a July School Board meeting $26 million in school infrastructure sales, services and use tax revenue and refunding bonds was approved. That bonding will pay for roughly two-thirds of a new school in the Veterans District, with the other third being paid for by $12.4 million in general obligation school bonds which will be voted upon in the upcoming November General Election. 

A Northstar Elementary task force was assembled in the spring to help determine the future of the building. The task force was assembled to meet and decide whether the district should renovate the current building or build a new school on land reserved in the Veterans District. The three options the task force considered were to fix highest priority areas of the current building, a complete renovation of the facility, or sell it and build brand new. All 18 members of the task force voted, with 17 of them voting to build new and then they presented a recommendation to the school board. A new website has been created by the district to provide residents with information about the general obligation bond referendum on the ballot November 4th and Superintendent Cassi Pearson says this new website is a way to share significant information about the project with voters.

“We’re really excited about the potential. There are some draft renderings on the website and a lot of information about how the decision was made to go this route, benefits to our students, our families, our staff, and our community at large. We are willing and able and ready to share information on this.”

You can find the new website here. Hear more from Pearson on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.