Powell Elementary School community is unhappy with portable classrooms. What is the solution? - MASHAHER

While parents say too many students at Powell Elementary School are having their learning disrupted in packed portable classrooms, Knox County Schools says the school does not meet standards for “overcrowding” defined by the district and that KCS does not plan to invest in permanent classrooms anytime soon. Overcrowding aside, Powell parent and parent-teacher association President Allison Malone said the portable classrooms often have broken air conditioning, mold issues and holes in the floor. Parents want solutions, especially as Powell’s enrollment is expected to increase from 850 to 910 by 2028. “There is no doubt that area and that community has grown,” said Knox County Board of Education member Steve Triplett, who represents Powell. “And it’s had an effect on facilities.”

With the school not included in district plans for capital improvement projects, updates could take years. The portable classrooms are used by students in two grades, Malone said.

To be considered overcrowded by district standards, a classroom must have more than 21.6 students per classroom, KCS spokesperson Carly Harrington said. With 35 classrooms at Powell, the maximum capacity is more than 1,053 students, which means the school actually could accommodate another 200 students.

All options, including adding a new building (or building another school in the area) are on the table to address Powell’s growing student population, Triplett said, but updates would have to be a part of the next budget cycle.

It was 1987 the last time Powell underwent a major renovation, which at the time added kindergarten classes, the front office and the library.

How new housing could affect student enrollment at Powell Elementary

Malone’s son is a second grade student at Powell, and she is a graduate herself. She believes the crowding problems stems from county leaders approving new housing developments without considering how they will affect schools.

The school’s history goes back more than a century to 1874 when it was known as Perkins School. When the current elementary school was built in 1949, the Powell community’s population was 2,553. It has since grown to nearly 14,000 people, according to the most recent census data.

What is in the district’s capital improvement plan?

In late 2022, the Knox County Board of Education approved zoning changes for a new elementary school west of Powell. It was built in response to overcrowding at Ball Camp, Hardin Valley and Karns elementary schools.

Hundreds of students in the rapidly growing northwest corner of the county transferred there, and Malone feels the Powell community is due for a similar solution.

“We’re growing at the same rampant rate as they are,” she said. “We were already way overcrowded before they were.”

Another area of rapid growth is Farragut, where the district recently bought land to build a new $47 million elementary school. Administrators are recommending a 1,200-student elementary school, which is scheduled to open for the 2026-27 school year.

Other district priorities to expand while addressing population growth include:

Bearden Middle School: Upgrades planned for 2025.
Expanding to Mechanicsville, Lonsdale, Beaumont: Schools in these neighborhoods are not overcrowded, but they lack the capacity to accommodate predicted growth.
South Knoxville: The district will consider building a new school in this part of the county where district leaders are projecting growth in the coming years.
Sterchi Elementary School: A $17 million investment to alleviate overcrowding will pay for the addition of 12 new classrooms, an expanded cafeteria, a new gym and more.

Areena Arora, data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @AreenaArora and on Instagram @areena_news.