Plans for a new Logan County K-8 school on Franklin Road are currently on hold because of concerns about the budget, according to Logan County Schools Superintendent Marshall Kemp.

“It’s being postponed at this time,” Kemp said of the school which was set to open in 2010.

It’s been nearly two years since plans to build a new school for the Logan County School District were announced. The district decided to build a new school because of overcrowding at some of the K-8 schools, especially Auburn and Olmstead. Land on Franklin Road, across from the Rockwood Subdivision, was purchased in 2007 and plans for building the new school began. Schematic design plans were approved in September and the total estimated cost for the school was $13 million.

In November, Kemp warned that a troubled economy and state budget shortfalls could slow down progress on the project.

Although the district won’t know the specifics of the new state budget for a while, Kemp sees the writing on the wall and knows finances are already tight.

The Logan County Board of Education held an informal workshop Thursday evening to study the district finances. Though they don’t yet know the specifics of the 2009-10 school year budget, they wanted to go ahead and see where things stand as of now.

“We’re just trying to look ahead,” Kemp said.

Kemp said that to finance the construction of the school, the system might have to reach its maximum bonding capacity and he does not like to be in that situation.

“We’re being cautious. I think it would be irresponsible at this time,” he added. “I feel things are so unsure.”

If plans for the new school were on schedule, the district would be ready to take bids in April.

“We’re a long way from that,” Kemp said.

As for the overcrowding at schools that first prompted the plans for a new school, Kemp said that while it is still a problem, it is not as bad as it was two years ago.

“Auburn is not as crowded, Adairville is not crowded and Olmstead is okay,” Kemp said.

The district has already purchased the Franklin Road property and Kemp said he hopes a new school will be built there in the future. For now, however, district leaders are just hoping that the budget cuts aren’t too severe and trying to figure out how to make do with less money each year.