The Jackson City Council approved the construction of a new Madison Academic High School that will be built on the campus of the University of Memphis Lambuth, during a called meeting at City Hall, Tuesday.
Council members voted 5-3 in favor of the consideration of approval of documents relating to the Public Private Partnership.
Ernest Brooks II, Harvey Buchanan, Johnny Dodd, Russ McKelvey and Marda Wallace voted yes; David Cisco, Ross Priddy and Paul Taylor voted no, and Gary Pickens was absent.
“I was part of the Education Committee when we first started this a couple of years ago,” said Johnny Dodd, City Council member, “Right now, this is an opportunity for us to make a major impact on two different communities – bringing the intercity to our schools, and our tax base.
“It will also help the community comeback, because we are losing kids daily to private schools or we have families moving outside our community, because our schools are not what they need to be.”
Dodd was all in because of the renovation of downtown Jackson.
“With two new schools (Madison and Jackson Central-Merry) … you will get other businesses that want to be around them. With the investment the University of Memphis Lambuth has made in the community … it’s a major impact.
“You can’t partner with a better entity than the University of Memphis Lambuth, and with (Madison) going on that campus, it’s going to bring families back to that location – same thing with JCM.”
The cost of the school is projected to be just north of $14 million, but Paul Taylor had other reasons to vote ‘no.’
“There’s no doubt there’s a need for these schools, but my issue has been with the process … the way it has been presented – kind of the 11th hour politics that have gone on to get us here,” Taylor said, “We’ve got to change the way we are do things here, and my vote was to change the way we are doing things.
“My track record and what I dedicate my time to – when I can find it – is towards school and early childhood education – that’s what I’m passionate about.”
Earlier, Taylor recommended an amendment for proper oversight, which was approved by a 6-2 margin.
“That’s one of the things we’ve been trying to put into place from the Budget Committee’s standpoint is proper oversight, and accountability in these capital projects we take on,” Taylor said, “One of the things the Budget Committee recommended going into this meeting was we go out and hire an owner/representative – a professional – that could be construction science background or project manager background who can monitor the project … who can give us monthly updates on how the money is being spent.
“I think we needed to look at other options on how we could fund this in a more responsible way for the taxpayers of Jackson and Madison County.”
(PHOTO: Council members from left, Marda Wallace, Paul Taylor and Johnny Dodd)
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