Lexington 1 closes on 35 acres for new elementary school in White Knoll area

Lexington 1 school board members voted this week to close on a 35-acre piece of land for the district’s new elementary school in the White Knoll area.

The school district will follow through on its option agreement with the property owners in April and pay $350,000 for the land. The school site is at the intersection of South Lake Drive and Bluefield Road, and includes about 3 acres of protected wetlands, according to school district officials.

Before closing on the land, the district had to complete due diligence work, such as traffic studies and other preliminary assessments, to be sure the land was suitable for a school. The elementary school will have separate entrances for buses and parents and a long drop-off loop that can be stacked with cars to alleviate traffic concerns, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Salters said at the Dec. 17. meeting.

The district’s building plan, approved by voters in November 2018, indicates the elementary school would cost $37 million to build and equip. It would accommodate 800 students and be open for the 2022-2023 school year, the plan says. Two other elementary schools, one to replace Gilbert Elementary and one to support the River Bluff attendance area, are also planned.

There are a few major residential developments planned near the future White Knoll elementary, including one to be built on Red Bank YMCA land.

The White Knoll-area elementary school will be constructed using a prototype first used to build Rocky Creek Elementary and most recently used as a model for Centerville Elementary in Gilbert.

At the Dec. 17 board meeting, all school board members voted in favor of closing on the land except for Jada Garris, who opposed it because she did not have sufficient time to review the traffic study, she said.