Mike Dingeldein of Community Design Alliance said at the board’s meeting Thursday that the Athens City School District’s Board of Education could save nearly $2 million by moving the sixth grade students into Athens Middle School.
The cost of the locally funded initiative and the local share would each be about $2 million dollars if the board decided to move the sixth graders to the middle school, Dingeldein said.
In contrast, the cost of the locally funded initiative would be about $4 million, and the local share would be about $3 million if the board decided not to move the sixth grade to the middle school, Dingeldein said.
Moving the sixth grade would include a 7,200 square feet addition to Athens Middle School.
Board members kept most of the discussion after that presentation focused on the sixth grade being included in Athens Middle School rather than at The Plains Elementary location.
The Plains Elementary is being considered to be the location of the fourth through at least fifth grade building, according to previous Post reports.
Athens Middle School would have about 400 students if it stayed just as the seventh and eighth grade building. The addition of the sixth grade would bring the total amount of students in the building to about 600.
The board will hold a special meeting March 8 to discuss the info further and hear public input.
