Marcus gave a 45-minute presentation - complete with a 20-page handout - expressing her opposition to a new school at Greenback. 

The public speaking portion of the agenda is usually reserved for citizens to address issues before the commission begins debating, but Marcus said she was speaking in her capacity as a "citizen and taxpayer" not as a county commissioner.

The commission was there primarily to formally receive phase one of the Loudon County Schools' official building plan. The plan, which was passed by the county school board in January, includes a new Pre K through grade-12 school in Greenback, a new middle school in Loudon, combining Loudon Elementary and Fort Loudoun Middle into a Pre K through grade-5 school and the expansion or replacement of the cafeteria at Philadelphia Elementary. 

"I'm very knowledgeable about the schools in Loudon County," Marcus began adding she was very "confused" about why people think Greenback School is in such bad shape. She said the public has been "bombarded" with nothing but negative information about Greenback School and media coverage of the school has been, "negative, biased and incomplete." 

She said she had researched how much the county has spent on individual schools and found that Greenback School was third in the amount of repairs done over the decades. 

"Greenback has been taken care of," she concluded but acknowledged the costs of some repairs were not available because they happened so long ago. 

Marcus went on to say while all the schools need work, "Greenback is the only one we read about in the paper," and that the problems at the school did not warrant spending "$30 million for a brand new school for 750 students." She noted several arguments given for building a new school and her rebuttals.

"Why should Loudon County taxpayers be required to pay $30 million for a new school in Greenback (approximately 230 students in the high school) while Loudon High School (approximately 800 students) is ignored?" Marcus wrote in the hand-out. 

In the hand-out Marcus also theorized that perhaps there has been an orchestrated campaign to get a new school in Greenback. "Could a person, group of people or organization be responsible for initiating and sustaining a propaganda campaign to make Greenback School appear to be in such horrible condition that all of the students must be moved out and the only option is to build a new PK-12 school? What other possible uses could someone have for the current building? Could there be plans for another assisted living and Alzheimer facility in Loudon County, a church or maybe a city office building and community center for Greenback?" she wrote. 

Finally, the handout concluded that while she supports the proposed changes at Loudon Elementary, Fort Loudoun Middle and Philadelphia Elementary, Marcus thinks the money proposed for a new Greenback School would be better spent divided with other schools. She proposed continuing to renovate the current Greenback facility for grades 7-12, building a new pre-kindergarten through grade-6 facility on the school system property in Greenback, a new grade-6 through eight facility for Eaton Elementary, North Middle School and Highland Park and to renovate Loudon High School and build a freshman academy.

"It makes more sense to me to spend $30 to $40 million to address the needs of approximately 3,500, over a period of two to three years, than it does to spend $30 milion for 750 students at one school," the hand out concluded. 

Commissioner Bob Franke, who represents Greenback, said he was caught off-guard by Marcus' presentation since he didn't know she had planned to make it. He said the problem is while renovation have been done at Greenback School over the decades they were done "piece meal" and resulted in "throwing good money after bad and didn't solve the problems." 

Franke also called the multi-generational renovations of the school "Band-Aid fixes" and said having the different parts of the school renovated at different times resulted in a "mismatch of items that don't fit together" such as heating and plumbing. 

"I don't know why you just pick on Greenback," Franke said to Marcus adding her recommendations to renovate the old building for a high school and build another elementary school was not a good idea. Franke said it is common knowledge it costs more to renovate a building than to build a new one. He also noted what to build was the school board's decision not the county commission's. "It's up to the school board to decide what they need," Franke said adding he wasn't about to "second guess what they've done."

Lisa Russell, who represents Greenback on the school board and who was in the audience at the workshop, disagreed with Marcus' conclusions. "I feel that, in Mrs. Marcus' opinion, 750 students are not worthy of a new school," Russell said after the meeting. 

She was also in disagreement with Marcus' recommendation that Greenback School be divided into two schools, despite Greenback residents being overwhelmingly opposed to changing the traditional configuration of the school. "You have to look at the big picture there, you have two separate schools you are increasing operating expenses - two staffs, two electric bills, etc.," Russell said noting during the building plan discussions that followed, the county commission seemed to be counting on the school system maintaining the same operating expenses.

Despite Marcus' opposition, Russell said she doesn't think the school board will reverse its decision to build a new school at Greenback. "I don't think the school board will reverse it, it passed by an eight to two vote," Russell said noting that both the Public Building Authority's study and the feasibility study done by Community Tectonics recommended a new school be built. Russell said Marcus' contention that previous renovations and additions at the school have been sufficient enough to make the old building feasible as a high school was incorrect. "The additions that have been done are around a bad core," Russell said. Citing the studies done, Russell said she preferred to rely on professional architects and engineers about what is needed. They are " the professionals, experts in this field, Mrs. Marcus is not."