Some of the oldest schools in Bedford County are the elementary schools, and they require the most work, according to superintendent Dr. Tammy Garrett.  

The school board’s number one goal is to get students out of portables, Garret said. But amid designing the new elementary school—planned for the area behind Marelli in Shelbyville—the County’s school need just over $23 million of work, according to Central Office’s “Facilities Survey of Needs.” 

The original Community Elementary is the County’s oldest school at 82 years old. Additions were made in 1946, 1054, 1964, and 1975.  

Total cost for maintenance needs is $725,500, and includes a new fire alarm system, energy management system upgrades, and roof replacement. All those projects are expected to be done in the next three to five years. 

The County’s next oldest school is Southside Elementary at 67 years. Total cost for maintenance projects is nearly $1.4 million. One million of that total is planned to go to building a larger cafeteria area. The timeline for that is unknown.  

In fact, 13 percent of the $23 million maintenance total will go to cafeteria expansions at Eakin, Eastside, and Southside. 

Eakin is 59 years old while Eastside is 57 years old. Both have maintenance needs costing a total of more than $1 million, in large part due to their cafeteria needs.  

Shelbyville Central High School, which is 44 years old, has just over $1.1 million in maintenance expenses, with a new replacement chiller currently the most expensive item at $500,000. The new SCHS career and technical education (CTE) annex, which was built in 2019, has $214,500 of maintenance projects planned, including installing electric bay doors in the shop areas ($70,000). 

Cascade and Community high schools are only three and 12 years old, respectively. But both have plans for the construction and upgrading of their athletic fields and facilities. Together, the total cost will be $12 million.  

Cascade Middle School, which has experienced some of the most growth in the County, has nearly $1.15 million in maintenance needs planned. The school is nearly 50 years old.

Cascade Elementary, on the other hand, is much younger and requires less maintenance. At 23 years old, the school has projects totaling to $579,500, and include a roof replacement costing just under $200,000 and a cooling tower replacement and parking lot pavement, each costing $75,000.  

Community Middle School has nearly $690,000 in maintenance repairs. Replacing the roof and repaving the parking lot will be the most expensive projects at $298,00 and $120,000 respectively.  

Even though Thomas Magnet is 58 years old, their total estimated maintenance costs total to $482,000 and include the expensive ticket item of repairing leaky windows throughout the building. This project is in progress and is costing around $183,000.  

The Liberty School, at 44 years old, has one of the longest repairs list, totaling $949,000. The most expensive projects include building a new softball field ($500,000), getting new bleachers in the gym ($85,000), an replacing the boiler ($75,000).  

Learning Way Elementary has one of the smallest maintenance totals at $212,000. The school is only 12 years old.  

There were no accessible ramps at the end of the school’s driveway, which proved a minor hazard during fire alarm drills, according to Bedford Fire Chief Mark Thomas. According to Shelbyville City Manager Joshua ray, the sidewalks belong to the City and are the City’s responsibility. He said they are working with the school system to develop a plan for adding the ramps. 

Harris Middle, at 16 years old, also has one of the smallest and least expensive maintenance lists. Costing around $118,000, the most expensive project will be upgrading the energy management system in the next 5 years.  

Assistant superintendent Tim Harwell, who’s part of Central Office’s maintenance survey committee, said they are having some issues with regulating water and air temperatures with the school’s geo-thermal system. The maintenance is “routine” and has no disclosed cost.  

The Bedford County Learning Academy has repairs costing only $82,500. Their most expensive item is roof replacement at $47,500.