JCPS to start $40M Okolona replacement

Project: Okolona Elementary Location: 7606 Preston Highway Description: Jefferson County Public Schools will develop a new Okolona Elementary building to replace its current school as part of its 10-year plan to improve school infrastructure.

The district will continue teaching students in the current building until the new one, which will be built next to it, is done and will move operations there. Rob Fulk, the interim Chief Operations Officer for the school district, said the building will be able to fit 600650 students.

“This is a building (the current Okolona Elementary building) that has no windows, the HVAC system is end of life, and it’s what we call an open concept building, which was very popular in the 1970s, but it’s not appropriate for today,” Fulk said. “So this is not, like, the best ideal building we could have for one of our elementary schools.”

The district is in the process of buying 3.2 acres of land from Okolona Park which will house a small part of the new building and will be used for construction equipment while the new building is being developed, JCPS spokesperson Mark Hebert said.

Hebert said when construction is done, they will build a soccer field in that space.

Because they are buying city property, they are holding public meetings with neighbors who would be impacted by the construction, Fulk said.

The development is part of the district’s 10-year plan to work on school buildings around the district since it hasn’t done so in many years. The plan started this year with the inauguration of Perry Elementary and Echo Trail Middle School.

Fulk said they hope to start building the new school next year.

Cost: Approximately $40 million, Hebert said.

Size: 51,000 square feet, Fulk said.