Dr. Mike Looney, right, listens to a chamber member following his Aug. 18 presentation.

By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
At his State of Education in Williamson County address last Thursday, Dr. Mike Looney was a bit of a tease. Brentwood and Ravenwood high schools’ average ACT scores of 25.5 and 24.6 respectively were tops in the county and above state and national averages last year, he shared.

Then he added that had just learned the scores for the Class of 2011.

“I can’t tell you (what they are) yet,” the Williamson County Schools’ superintendent told the approximately 150 people gathered at the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber’s monthly luncheon meeting. “But I can tell you that I’m smiling.”

Looney opened his talk by directing everyone in the room to a slide promoting the district’s website. There, he said, parents, business leaders and community members can find the strategic plan that now guides every decision made by the WCS board and central office staff.

“It really is the community’s strategic plan,” he said. It is designed to last through 2017.

Looney touched briefly on enrollment numbers for the county school system that opened to students Aug. 11. Ravenwood and Woodland Middle have slightly fewer students than projected, while both Brentwood high and middle schools each had about 80 students over projections. Centennial High, which drew several students previously zoned for RHS, opened with 15 students over estimates, while brand-new Clovercroft Elementary School has 52 more students than forecast.

Looney said numbers will continue to fluctuate through Labor Day. At that point, however, reliable enrollment numbers for all of WCS campuses should be available.

Total enrollment now stands at 32,048 students, 77 under projections. “We suspect, based on our calculations, that we’re going to be a district that continues to grow,” he said. “The strategic plan is our roadmap” and all decisions are tied back to it.

Looney explained recent changes in school bus stops that have caused some complaints from parents.

“We essentially used to provide door-to-door service,” Looney said. “What we have done is space our bus stops no more than a half mile apart.” By design, no student’s home should be more than a quarter mile from his or her stop.

The change, he explained, eliminates students’ time spent traveling to and from school. As now configured, no student should be on a bus more than 60 minutes at a time. It will also save the district approximately $500,000 a year in fuel costs.

“It does mean change and change is not always easy,” Looney acknowledged.

Looney discussed the district’s primary initiatives, which include senior classes at all schools achieving an average 24 ACT score. The current average is 22.8.

In his Power Point presentation, Looney showed how Williamson County scores compared to scores from other states but was quick to note that “we’re not comparing apples to apples.” Massachusetts students, for example, lead the nation with an average 24.2 ACT score but only 20 percent of its students take the ACT. Tennessee is one of only 10 states that tests 100 percent of students. Of those, the most recent average score was 19.5 for all students and 19 for those in public schools.

Other future goals in the strategic plan that Looney focused on include fluency in a foreign language for all students. “I am talking about having a conversation.” he said.

 “In the next seven years, we’re going to have a plan in place,” he said. “What languages should we choose?  What makes sense in Middle Tennessee?” he asked. Then he listed language statistics: One in four people in the world speak Chinese; 28 million people in the United States speak Spanish, he said among other language facts.

“If you have input, please let us know,” he said. “It’s kind of intimidating, isn’t it? But it’s awesome.”

Technology was another focus for the superintendent, who is entering his second full year with the district. The district owns 10,900 computers, he stated, but “about half of the computers are either broken or obsolete.”

The latest technology, “a basic tool that we take for granted in the business world” is inaccessible to many students, Looney said. A pilot program being launched this year at Brentwood, Page, Summit and Middle College high schools will allow students to bring their own computers to school.

Looney asked the business community present at the meeting to “help me find solutions so we can educate our children in real time.”

Looney said that while Williamson County Schools continue to be among the best in the state and nation, the biggest challenge facing the district and community is complacency. “We have to look beyond the confines of our county and of Tennessee. We have to look beyond the confines of our great country. We need to compete globally.”