Williamson County commissioners voted 23-1 Monday for $87 million toward a new middle school on Split Log Road. Education impact fees will pay for it.

Williamson County has agreed to pay for a new middle school on Split Log Road in Brentwood. The Williamson County Board of Commissioners voted 23-1 on Monday, Nov. 9, for an intent to fund the school at $87 million.

The measure is Resolution 11-26-5, listed as an intent to fund “$87,000,000 for the Building of Split Log Middle School” on the county’s Nov. 2 Budget Committee agenda. The votes are recorded in the county’s video of the Nov. 9 meeting. The county has not yet posted the minutes.

An intent to fund is a commitment, not a check. The county’s finance staff told commissioners they will bring a separate resolution in January to appropriate the money. They said about $45 million is needed to get the project started.

Why the district wants the school

Williamson County Schools told commissioners that the three middle schools serving the Brentwood and Nolensville area are full or close to it:

The district said all three are projected to reach capacity in the next two to four years. It counted about 18 developments with roughly 3,000 homes underway in that part of the county. Nolensville is about six miles southeast of Brentwood.

The district said none of the three campuses can grow much. Sunset and Mill Creek share their sites with elementary schools, and the Woodland site is too narrow for an addition. The new school would sit on land the district bought in Brentwood when it built what is now Jordan Elementary, on Split Log Road, district staff said.

The Williamson County Board of Education voted 12-0 for the intent to fund. The county’s Budget Committee recommended it 4-1, the commission’s chair said when introducing the item.

Commissioners first amended the resolution, 23-0 with one member absent. The amendment says the money will come from education impact fees, the one-time fee the county charges on new homes. It also struck language that would have let the county repay itself later from tax-exempt bonds.

One commissioner said the impact fee fund holds a little over $100 million. Finance staff said collections run about $20 million a year: a little over $19 million last year and $21 million the year before.

What commissioners asked

The vote was not without questions. One commissioner moved to delay the decision until January, so the school board could look again at rezoning and at adding on to existing middle schools. The motion died without a second.

Several commissioners asked about falling enrollment elsewhere in the county. District staff said elementary enrollment has dropped in some areas. They said a recommendation on rezoning and on what to do with emptying classrooms will go to the school board in the coming months.

Other answers from the meeting:

  • The first spending would cover design and bidding.
  • The $87 million figure allows for rock in the ground on the site, which the district said needs evaluating before design.
  • The district has scheduled no stakeholder meetings at this stage.
  • District practice is to plan bus routes so no student rides more than an hour. State law allows 90 minutes.

What it means for you

  • No change yet for current students. No zone lines have moved, and no opening date has been announced. The district has not said which neighborhoods the new school would serve.
  • Rezoning is coming either way. District staff told commissioners a districtwide rezoning recommendation is due to the school board. Families zoned for Woodland, Sunset or Mill Creek middle schools should watch the school board’s meeting agendas.
  • Next votes. The appropriation resolution goes to the County Commission in January. The school board meets Monday, Nov. 16, and takes public comment by email sign-up through noon that day, according to its meetings page.