Not As Bad As I Thought

This is looking a little better every day. Frankly, I don't blame Mr. Gordon any more on this one. I do not trust the Maury County School Board any farther than I can throw them (especially with SSOE's contract being extended). It is nice to see that my initial reaction on Thursday is not exactly correct.

Now, I would much prefer land donation in the future, but I guess with the current state of affairs in Maury County that is just not possible.

Anyway, read it for yourself.




Foundation might help purchase property for new middle school

By SKYLER SWISHER/Staff Writer

The Spring Hill Education Foundation might be able to contribute enough money to cover the costs of acquiring property for a new middle school that would be closer to the city’s fastest-growing area, Mayor Danny Leverette said.

“That is part of the reason I created the Spring Hill Education Foundation was to help with schools in Spring Hill whether with technology or school books or the acquisition of land,” he said.


Local real-estate attorney Huntly Gordon, who represents Arrowhead Land Co., said his clients are offering to sell a 30-acre parcel on Jim Warren Road near Marvin Wright Elementary to the school system.

The land will cost $1.2 million, but Gordon said the school system might be able to tap into the foundation to pay for the acquisition.

Gordon said he prefers the school system receive a cash donation because of how the board treated two of his clients, developers Taylor Golden and Cyril Evers.

The School Board was overly critical and condescending of property on Port Royal Road Evers was willing to donate for a school, he said.

“We are not going to ever donate land to the Maury County Board of Education simply because of the way it has been handled historically or in the recent past,” Gordon said. “We are willing to work with the city with cash donations to ensure funds are available to purchase whatever land that the city feels is appropriate to build future schools.”

Gordon said he would be willing to commit in writing to developers funding the construction of a 60-foot-wide road and providing utilities to the school.

The site will be easily accessible, allow students from nearby neighborhoods to walk and bike to school and provide easy access to a YMCA for after-school care, he said.

“I think you are going to have annual transportation costs associated with the Cleburne Road site that you won’t have with another site on the east side of the city,” Gordon said.

The Spring Hill Education Foundation was organized in April to benefit Spring Hill students and the schools they attend. Golden and Evers have donated $400,000 a piece to the foundation.

Leverette, along with Chairman of the Spring Hill Economic Development Commission Matthew White, will serve as the foundation’s board of directors. A third member is expected to be announced in the near future.

“We’re in the organizational phase right now,” White said. “The paperwork has been filed with the Secretary of State and will take several months before the foundation is made official and accepted as a nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service.”

The School Board already has a deed for property on Cleburne Road behind the General Motors Spring Hill Manufacturing Facility, but that site has faced criticism for its remoteness and the narrow roads that service the area.

“There’s a lot of commissioners who probably won’t be happy with the site that they picked,” said Maury County Commissioner Bob Farmer, who represents the Spring Hill area. “I think between Spring Hill and Maury County, since we all seem to be in agreement of where the school doesn’t need to go, that maybe we can come up with something.”

The Maury County Commission has yet to approve funds for the school. It is expected to cost $26.4 million.

Director of Schools Eddie Hickman said he thinks the School Board is committed to the Cleburne site but will consider all other sites for future schools. Construction needs to begin as soon as possible, he said.

“It’s a better site,” Hickman said. “It is free land. There are utilities.”

Hickman said the roads could be better, but the infrastructure is sufficient to accommodate the school with an expected capacity of 1,000.

“That road is better than the roads around Culleoka School and other schools in our district,” he said.

School officials want to open the middle school by the beginning of the 2009 school year.