Hamilton County School administrators and Board of Education members reviewed preliminary facilities plans that call for the construction of several new schools and the possible closure of three.

Winding up their annual retreat today, board members heard an early proposal to:

* Build a new elementary school south of Apison Pike and west of Ooltewah-Ringgold Road to relieve overcrowding at several schools and to accommodate anticipated growth around the Enterprise South industrial park where Volkswagen is building a $1 billion auto assembly plant;

* Build a new school north of Lee Highway in Ooltewah to relieve overcrowding at Wallace Smith and Snow Hill elementary schools and to accommodate expected growth in the area;

* Consolidate Falling Water and Ganns Middle Valley elementary schools;

* Consolidate Alpine Crest, Dupont and Rivermont elementary schools;

* Consolidate Harrison and Hillcrest elementary schools and the attendance zone of Lakeside Academy, which would become a dedicated magnet school;

* Replace Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts with a new K-12 school to relieve other overcrowded schools.

The projects would result in the closure of three schools, according to planning documents.

Board members also discussed the district’s falling graduation rate and a decline in math and reading scores. They also debated the need for improving principal training.

Read more in Sunday’s Times Free Press.