The Knox County Board of Education voted to approve a measure Wednesday to buy land in the Karns area for a new elementary school.
The measure will buy what amounts to three tracts totaling about 29 acres on Coward Mill Road in Northwest Knox County for $2.35 million from Lillian J. Redmon, documents show. The land has been in the Redmon family's hands for decades.
The purchase is part of the school system's capital budget.
KCS has been working to find ways to reduce overcrowding in that part of the district.
The district funded the new elementary school in Northwest Knox County after projecting massive growth in the Karns and Hardin Valley area, but initially struggled to find property for it.
Hardin Valley Elementary was more than 170 students over capacity--even with additional portable units--for the 2018-19 school year. The board said there was no more room to add portable units to increase capacity.
Mayor Glenn Jacobs set aside $22 million in future budgets for the building, saying they are hoping to open the school in the fall of 2023 at the latest.