The Putnam County Board of Education has approved the purchase of property in the Teays Valley area for the site of a new elementary school. The property, often referred to as the Dinner Theater property, will house an elementary school whose purpose is to relieve overcrowding at both Scott Teays and West Teays elementaries. It is situated nearly halfway between the existing schools.

A citizens committee selected the site from thirteen properties in the area. The committee included county Planning Commission members, Department of Highways representatives, local parents, and school district representatives.

Superintendent Chuck Hatfield cited a number of reasons for the committee's choice, including room for future expansion, utility and groundwork development that has already taken place, traffic flow considerations, and location. Attorney Franklin Gritt told the Board that besides being the preferred site, this property was available from a willing seller, had the most existing site improvements, and was within the appraiser's monetary range. Other sites under serious consideration would have required lengthy court processes to force the sale, he stated. Deborah Phillips, Board president, has previously voiced the board's opposition to invoking eminent domain. One parent member of the committee lauded the superintendent for fostering an open selection process that made the choice easier for citizen input.

Now work on designing the building will continue, and construction for the new school should begin in the spring of 2007. If all goes as planned, students will begin attending the new elementary school in the fall of 2008.