JCPS promised to build a new West End middle school. Residents have questions

It's been nearly two years since Jefferson County Public Schools leaders announced plans to give middle schoolers in Louisville's West End a new building, with construction of the nearly $34 million project slated for this year.

But district officials haven't acquired land to erect the envisioned 129,000-square-foot building and are declining to answer questions regarding an altered timeline for the project or how they will address overcrowding at the middle school's temporary location.

J. Blaine Hudson Middle School opened in what was the former Phyllis Wheatley Elementary in August, starting with about 300 sixth-graders. For many, it was the first time they'd been given the choice to attend a school in their community and as the district prepares for the 2024-2025 school year, they are seeing far more interest in attending the school than expected.

Simultaneously, some community members said they are against finding more land altogether, preferring the district to expand the current school along South 17th Street so it can remain the home of Hudson students.

"There’s enough land that they can build up and build out," said Yolanda Walker, president of the California Neighborhood Leadership Council, of the property Hudson currently occupies. "Why can’t you expand it? We have it."

She and Carol Travis, a California resident seeking the District 4 Metro Council seat, are concerned about how much farther children would have to walk if the school moves, what would become of the current building once it is emptied and whether the sense of community surrounding that building's legacy — which opened in 1961 — would be lost.

Both women sent their children to the school when it was Wheatley, and Walker served as a teacher there for more than two decades. She'd like the district to focus on "keeping a sense of community and pride for those children," she said.

The existing building, Travis said, is in good condition - particularly since the district modernized it before welcoming Hudson students. With an existing building, she asks, "why invest money somewhere else? Go horizontally, go vertically and save money."

That isn't a viable option, though, according to district officials.

"The site is not large enough for a middle school and middle school athletic fields, so that is one reason the current building will not be expanded," JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan told The Courier Journal.

Hudson's athletes currently use the nearby California Park, California Community Center, Central High School and St. Stephen’s Family Life Center, she said.

But Walker and Travis said they are also concerned about what will happen to the building if there aren't students attending it.

They pointed to former JCPS schools in the West End they say were sold to sometimes shoddy developers who converted the buildings into apartments. There are enough apartments in the West End that aren't properly maintained and more rentals won't build up the community, Walker said.

Deathra Shipley, who went to school at what is now Hudson and lives across the street, said she is also concerned about the building sitting empty or getting converted into apartments.

She'd prefer to see Hudson students get a shiny new building, she said. But "I want to know what the plan is if a new school is built. What are they going to do with that building? I have great concerns about that."

Ideally, the district would use the building as a central office location, Shipley said.

She doesn't want to see more apartments for seniors, she said, because there are already apartments down the street that are supposed to be for the elderly but have had three shootings along that block in the past year.

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"It's been a nightmare for some neighbors," Shipley said of the property on West Oak and South 17th streets.

"I want to see some concrete plans for the building before they say we’re just going to leave it abandoned," she added. "We do not need another abandoned building in the West End at all."

The district, according to Callahan, has no plan to sell the property once Hudson students are moved. But she said "no decisions have been made yet" about what the district will do with the building.

Hudson's enrollment is projected to be 25% over the building's optimal capacity next year - with only two of its eventual three grades attending.

During the board's January meeting, Superintendent Marty Pollio said leaders were not expecting as many middle schoolers living in the West End to choose nearby schools once the new student assignment plan was implemented.

The district thought it would be 60%, Pollio said, but it ended up being about 80%.

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"We will bring forward a proposal in the next six to eight weeks about where we're going to build the permanent school and how we are going to move forward in the coming years so (Hudson's current location) is not overwhelmed," he said.

Contact Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JCPS plans West End middle school, but property questions linger