HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. — Two Hamilton County commissioners have officially stated that conditions in parts of Red Bank High School are deplorable.
Now the commissioners are set to vote on a resolution that would give the school more than a million dollars.
Money that was originally intended for Rivermont Elementary.
This money came from the American Rescue Plan.
However, the Commission has suspended the use of these funds because Rivermont is now to be merged with two other elementary schools in a new building.
Commissioners have yet to use the money, and several agree that Red Bank should be the place to do it.
“The scope of this project includes replacing floors and plumbing, which is really abysmal,” says Commissioner David Sharpe.
$1.5 million in federal COVID relief funds were originally earmarked for a multi-purpose room at Rivermont Elementary School.
With Rivermont now slated for consolidation, Red Bank High School may be next in line to improve.
“Right now, the plumbing in many of the locker rooms at Red Bank High School is broken. The tiles are broken. The systems are in dire need of repair. The ventilation system needs to be replaced,” Sharpe says.
Commissioner Steve Highlander said he trained at Red Bank for 12 years.
“The conditions are really miserable. They are really in bad shape. They are very similar to those in the 50s and 60s.”
Inspector Highlander also told us that the changing rooms were old and there were no shower facilities.
He says there is a mat on concrete in the ring area and that there is no suitable emergency exit.
When asked how Red Bank came to this situation, a school spokesperson said: “Over many years, a backlog of maintenance projects has accumulated throughout the district…”
Red Bank has now turned to private donors.
Last year the Red Bank baseball team received a new fence donated by Quality Fencing.
The baseball team’s head coach, Matt Roberson, says it wouldn’t have been possible so quickly without the donation.
“The generosity…it would have taken us a decade to raise that much money,” Roberson says.
Next week, commissioners will also vote on issuing bonds to finance hundreds of millions of dollars worth of county school projects, including work in Red Bank.
