Rumor Mill
Published August 19, 2010
The purpose of this section is to answer any questions parents, teachers or community members might have regarding the school district and to set the record straight in regards to any rumors that might be circulating. If you have a question or have heard a rumor that you would like for us to address, simply SEND US your questions and we will respond to them in upcoming issues of IN FOCUS. Below are some of the questions we received since our last newsletter.
I heard that Williamson County was looking into making Elementary K-6th grades, Middle School 7-9th grades, High School 10-12th grades. Is this true? If so, will the parents have any say on this decision?
There has been discussion about consideration of creating k-6 elementary schools, however, there has been no discussion about considering the establishment of 7-9 or 10-12 schools. At this time, our research indicates our current facilities would not accommodate a K-6 elementary configuration.
Will Hillsboro Elementary & Middle School become strictly a middle school next school year?
That would only occur if the new zoning plan brought about the need to restructure that school demographically. Since the plan has not been presented, there is no reason to believe that might happen.
I am new to the area and this will be my first time to have a student at Winstead. I heard from another parent that now that Winstead is smaller in number, the district is considering returning the sixth graders to the elementary school next year. Is this true or just a rumor?
There has been some discussion about creating K-6 schools across the district, however, that would only occur if the zoning plan to be adopted by the Williamson County School Board found that as a reasonable option to consider. At this time, we do not believe our facilities would accommodate a K-6 elementary configuration.
Will a new high school open next year to relieve overcrowding at Ravenwood?
No. Williamson County Schools is going through a district-wide rezoning process this fall. Through this process, the district hopes to better utilize the current school buildings since some areas in the county are over-capacity while others are under-capacity. If at some point the district decides to build a new high school to specifically relieve overcrowding at Ravenwood, it would take at least two years to complete construction on the new building.
I have heard that the North side of Sneed Rd. is getting rezoned to Brentwood High, while the south side of Sneed Rd. will remain zoned for Franklin High. Can you provide any insight?
The Board has contracted with a software company, Edulog, to look at the rezoning across the district at all levels and create the optimum zoning proposal county-wide. The company is still working on its proposal, which means no zone lines have been determined and anything you have heard is just a rumor.
What are the plans for the property located next to Oak View Elementary? I have heard that it was purchased to be a middle school, then I heard it would never be built due to sewer issues. Will there be a school there and if so, when?
We purchased this property anticipating future growth in the area and have a five year capital outlay plan that addresses new school construction. Currently, the five year capital outlay plan shows completion of the school in 2013. This plan is reviewed annually by both the Board of Education and the County Commission. This plan is subject to change each year. However, Edulog's current work will give us insight into when this school is needed. We cannot give a definitive timetable for construction on this property at this time.
There has been discussion among parents at our school about the SWIS forms that our children receive. They seem to be handed out very subjectively and for what would normally be considered minor infractions. The rumor is that the more SWIS forms a school writes, the more money a school receives for children who are "discipline problems." This seems ridiculous and really unfair to the students. As parents, we have been told this is a way to monitor a child's behavior to seek out patterns. The issue is that these aren't serious behavior issues. I've never even punished my child for these because when she has received the forms, the infractions were ridiculous.
The schools that have used the SWIS forms do so to gather information about behavior. Behavior incidents that occur are tracked as to the time of the event, the location of the event and the type of the event. The data is collected in a data bank and reports can be created to help school staff better understand how to intervene to support the student in making more positive choices. These reports often show that small interventions can make a major difference. The information in these reports can also be shared with the parents. Schools receive no money for writing SWIS forms. Rumors like this need to be taken to the school administration or to the specific teacher for clarification.