Proposal to expand Alcoa school exceeds $20 million

ALCOA, Tenn. (WVLT) - The halls of Alcoa Intermediate School are full of as many as 438 students at once. That's close to the school's capacity of 445, according to Alcoa Schools Director Dr. Brian Bell. He says he's been as resourceful as possible with the space they have.

"We've taken computer labs and rooms not designed for academic rooms and turned those into classrooms,"

"We are maxed out."

The school system's proposed construction project would cost $24 million. Bell said doing the project all at once would be more economical in the long run than doing it in two phases. He hopes the major expansion would prepare the school for the next decade and a half of growth.

"So we don't have much room left to expand,"

"And so our proposal is to increase the capacity of the intermediate school up to around 615 students. That will give us a lot of room for growth. "