Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney outlines the rezoning proposal at Monday night's school board meeting. At left is Pat Anderson, board chairman.

Southern Woods-area families 'thrilled' with compromise

Updated at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
On Monday night, the Williamson County School board came to the end of a long and difficult journey that began last spring. With a 10-2 vote, the board passed a district-wide rezoning plan that will impact approximately 3000 students in the next school year.

Though Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney had stated at the board’s Oct. 25 meeting that the plan he presented that day should be considered final, the plan he ultimately presented included several adjustments. They were made in response to conversations between board members, staff and parents at a Nov. 4 public information meeting; smaller community meetings; meetings Looney had with individual board members, and comments made at the board’s Nov. 11 work session.

Stating that he anticipated amendments to his Oct. 25 proposal, Looney pre-empted those actions by incorporating several of the items in the plan he ultimately presented for approval. Other desired revisions were not included, he said, because “in my mind are not changeable.”

Chief among the revisions is a plan to allow students in the Southern Woods, Courtside, Arlington Heights, Walnut Ridge, South Springs, Stone Creek Park and the Bluff Road area who currently attend Sunset Middle and Ravenwood High School the option to stay at those schools. All other students, and any who move into the area, will be rezoned to create a clean feeder pattern of Edmondson Elementary to Brentwood Middle and Brentwood High schools.

 Transportation to Sunset and Ravenwood would be provided and students opting to stay at Ravenwood can play TSSAA-sanctioned sports, Looney said. There will be no grandfathering of siblings under the new plan, however.

'We felt that we were listened to'
Southern Woods-area parents who lobbied for either the clean feeder pattern or the ability to stay at Sunset and Ravenwood both left the meeting happy.

“In the simplest terms, we’re thrilled,” said Janine Hopkins, one of the organizers of a Red Bow campaign to keep the existing feeder pattern. Hopkins two daughters, currently in 6th and 7th grade at Sunset Middle, will remain there. Both had attended Crockett, Sunset and Edmondson elementary schools, she said.

“We just felt like we were listened to,” she said of meetings with Looney and 5th district board member Gary Anderson. “They did what they could to really benefit a lot of children.

Hopkins, who lives in Courtside, said that the dual transportation offer was “absolutely a key for us. We have so many families that work or are single parents that we really needed this for this to work.”

Parent Kristen Fowler was equally as thrilled.

“I appreciate Dr. Looney, his staff, and the school board working out such a great plan for our neighborhood. This is exactly what we requested in our petitions and e-mails -- a plan that makes Edmondson a clean feeder while protecting the middle and high schoolers.”

There are 531 students enrolled in public schools in the Southern Woods area, Looney said, an average of 45 per grade.

Two other changes affecting Brentwood-area schools concern the Clovercroft Road area. A total of 50 students who live along Clovercroft east to Artesian Drive will now attend Nolensville Elementary, Sunset Middle and Ravenwood High Schools.

Students in the area surrounding the new Breezeway Elementary School property will attend Breezeway, Woodland Middle and Centennial High schools.

No change for RHS to CHS plan
One of the most unpopular parts of the plan, to rezone the subdivisions along the “Carothers Corridor” as well as Avalon and The Meade at Avalon from Ravenwood to Centennial, creating a split feeder from Woodland Middle School, was not amended in any way. Nor was the plan to rezone students in the Westhaven development in west Franklin from Franklin High to Independence.

A large contingent of parents representing “Williamson County Taxpayers for Responsible Government” wore white T-shirts with bright red STOP signs on them. Franklin parent Michael Lane presented a petition to the board on behalf of the coalition.

The petition, signed by 1118 people, stated that “the current rezoning proposal is not in the best interest of our children or the taxpayers of this county.  There is work still to be done.  We respectfully ask that the Board of Education delay any rezoning until a more fiscally responsible, long-term plan can be developed that provides academic and program equality, proximity to schools and reasonable feeder systems for all the students of Williamson County.”

Eric George, a resident of the affected The Enclave development in the east Cool Springs area of Franklin, has been active observer of the rezoning process. In remarks to the board prior to the vote, he said, “I know that your hearts are in the right place and that you want to do the right thing.” But he added that in the past 10 years, “three high schools have been built and funded in the wrong place.” He described the new south county Summit High School as being “slammed against the county line.” He concluded by urging the members to “stop, to get a plan, a strategic plan in place and to build upon that plan.”

Board members share thoughts
During the board’s discussion of the plan prior to its vote, 4th District board member Tim McLaughlin shared a thoughtful analysis of the process and several concerns, even with the new amendments. The 4th district encompasses the Carothers Corridor and east Franklin areas south to Peytonsville.

“If this passes the way it is … and the new northeast high school is not funded, we will very likely be in a back in a very short order to start over,” he said. McLaughlin said he wasn’t convinced the goals set out at the start of the process had been achieved, namely proximity, clean feeder patterns and maximization of facilities.

 “I don’t know an easy solution,” he said, but added, “These areas are ones that probably need another look.”

McLaughlin and 11th district board member Mark Gregory were the only two board members voting against the measure.

Longtime board member Janice Mills, who represents the 2nd District, also shared her concerns but said ultimately, “I believe that all of our schools are good schools … and we shouldn’t have reservations about our children going to a school that may be different.”

She said the board has had to deal with the district’s tremendous growth over the past decade and that many factors went into where schools were built. “We haven’t just thrown a dart and said, ‘We want to build a school here.’”

“If I thought rezoning a child would do damage in any way, there’s no way I could do that. Our charge is to education our students in the best environment to the best of our ability.” She added that students, parents and teachers working together “provide the atmosphere that makes our schools successful,” a fact she said she felt sure would continue.

Is rezoning pleasant? she asked. “No. Are we going to make everyone happy? No.”

Following the vote, 6th District board member Terry Leve shared, “Is this plan perfect in all respects and acceptable to all?  It is not.  However, I believe that it is a plan that best serves nearly all of our students as their families would hope, and is also a plan that is fundamentally fair to the taxpayers and the children.

“We were able to significantly increase the percentage split at Woodland Middle from an original proposal of 19% to up to 28%; we were able to finally make Edmondson a pure feeder, we protected students at Sunset Middle and Ravenwood who had been repeatedly rezoned over the years from another inherently unfair rezoning, and we kept Lipscomb intact. 

“Still, we cannot forget that there are families who are hurting tonight.  Consequently, it is critical that we immediately come together as a community to help ease transitions, and to welcome our new friends into our schools,” Leve concluded.

In other board action:

• As a continuation of the strategic planning process, the Board adopted a vision statement for the district: Williamson County Schools will become a district recognized nationally for students who excel in academics, the arts, and athletics.
• The Board adopted a calendar for the 2011-2012 school year. Highlights include: August 8, first day for teachers; August 11, first half day for students; August 12, first full day for students; October 17-18, fall break; November 21-25, Thanksgiving break; December 21-January 3, winter break; January 4, first day for teachers; January 5, first day for students; April 2-6, spring break; May 23, last day for students; May 25, last day for teachers. The complete calendar is on the district’s website at www.wcs.edu, select District Calendars.
• Approved four 2010-2011 Budget Resolutions including an Intent to Fund resolution for $2,139,000 for a six-classroom addition and construction of a 250-seat auditorium at Hillsboro School and a resolution for $5 million to purchase land in the northeastern part of the county for a new high school. The Board also approved a resolution for $299,608 for cafeteria equipment at locations across the district; and a resolution for $50,000 in State grants for special education expenses.