Leaders Consider Adding Track at Liberty Tech
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School may be out for the summer, but extracurricular athletics took center stage in Wednesday’s Madison County Commission Budget Committee meeting. Leaders considered funding the district’s first regulated track, but the question circulating has been where it should be located. As of right now there is no Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) regulated track within the Jackson-Madison County School District. Students who participate in track must always travel to compete. Students said, they hope their hope their commute will come to an end soon. 17-year-old Courtney Bush has been running track for five years. “It’s something that I love to do, I love to run,” said Bush. The only problem is he travels with his coach to every meet. “The only regulation track at this time in the county or city is at the University School of Jackson,” said Jackson-Madison County School Board member Maria Mitchell. “The county school system does not have a regulated track, ” said Mitchell. Something Jackson-Madison County School Superintendent Buddy White is trying to change by asking commissioners for an upgrade. “We have students that participate in track events and they’re training on really inferior surfaces and inferior places,” said White. “It will help out instead of having to travel, the traveling I guess mainly, I have to get rides across town ..it’s been hard, ” said Bush. School Board members said the Liberty High School track only needs one additional lane to be qualified for state meets. “Liberty High School is the site that I have recommended, we are pinning down the price between 200 and $300,000 we think,” said White. In the budget meeting there was a difference in opinion on which track should be regulated. The Jackson-Madison County School Board is pulling for their Liberty property, while the County Commission is pushing for a track off Hollywood Drive. “That would involve spending another several hundred thousand dollars,” said Mitchell. Several hundred thousand dollars from the Madison County budget for a track that needs more work, said School Board officials. A tough decision students said, they hope is resolved soon. “I mean it’s a big deal to me, it could help me out going further in school,” said Bush. The County Commission asked School Board members to come back with more information regarding each location’s regulation. The Hollywood property will take an estimated $400,000 in improvements versus $200,000 for the track at Liberty High School .
