MNPS Capital Wish List Includes $203 Million for Next Year

Renovation projects at three high schools, upgrades in heating and cooling systems and swapping out aging buses are leading costs on Metro Schools capital wish this year.

The school districts first draft of capital projects officials plan to ask the mayor and Metro Council for includes $86 million between three major high school renovations and classroom additions, according to the first draft of the Capital Improvement Budget released last week. The schools include Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet and Overton High School waiting on a mixture of building repairs and new classrooms to alleviate overcrowding, and Nashville School of the Arts needing building repairs.

As we reported in Part II of our series on the problems facing Metro Schools on this week's cover, three in 10 schools ares overcrowded this year at MNPS. Forty three total schools are teaching more students than they have space for, like Tusculum Elementary which sits at 135 percent capacity, has nearly 200 more students than the building can hold and is home to a city of 21 portable classrooms behind its aging main building.

The top 10 most-crowded schools range from 117 percent to 142 percent of capacity. The city has approved funding to alleviate overcrowding at all but one of those schools, but many students wont feel relief for at least another year until construction is finished.

The district calculates $130 million in repairs of school and campus buildings this year, and another $73 million for district-wide expenses, such as HVAC upgrades, new buses, and other expenses like window replacements, roof repairs and technology.

The total comes to $203 million. Typically, the city funds a little more than $100 million a year.

Below is a list of building-based projects the district has prioritized for the 2015-16 fiscal year:

Bellevue Middle School: add eight classrooms. Currently at 106 percent capacity, the school is expected to soar to 120 percent in five years. On a 100-point scale (with 100 representing the best condition and 0 as the worst condition) the school scored an 85. Projected cost: $3.25 million

Cane Ridge Area Elementary (new school): Build a new school in the area to house 800 students. Projected cost: $18.7 million

Glencliff High School stadium/track upgrade: renovation. Scored a 50 on a 100-point scale. Projected cost: $1.5 million.

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MNPS Capital Wish List Includes $203 Million for Next Year