Rumor Mill-4717
Published February 3, 2011
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.
How come Williamson County Schools has not chosen to use snow routes during periods of inclement weather? Also, has the district considered hiring plows with professional operators to salt and plow the roads that are responsible for closing the schools district-wide?
In the past, the district has investigated the use of snow routes, but the committee formed to research the idea deemed that snow routes were not a reasonable option for our district. The past two winters have been out of the norm as far as bad weather and school closings. We missed nine days last school year and have missed seven to date this school year. The district continues to work with the Williamson County highway department and the highway departments of area cities and towns that have been a great help in clearing roadways, and in some cases, school parking lots and entrances. The clearing of roads and streets is the responsibility of those municipalities, the county and the state. The district has purchased a few snow plows this year, but they are to be used to clear school parking lots and entrances. With 40 school sites, that is a time consuming task, which depending on the weather, can be accomplished in one to two days. We also used contracted workers to assist in clearing school grounds this year.
There has been substantial growth since the question of snow routes has been investigated. We will be revisiting the feasibility of snow routes based on existing roads and assets available when dealing with snow.
I understand why schools must sometimes be closed due to inclement weather. Why, however, must you close SACC? As a full-time working parent who has one child in elementary school and will have another child starting kindergarten next year, I think it’s important for the WCS system to understand that we depend on SACC not only during the regular school days but also for extended care. If the WCS system is going to continue to close due to liability reasons, then I would hope you would consider putting the YMCA back in the schools. I don’t recall the YMCA ever closing for snow, and quite frankly, as a parent and from hearing from my child, the YMCA was generally better.
When we close schools and close the SACC program, we are looking at not only safety in traveling to and from the school but safety on school grounds. Many times, school parking lots and entrances are icy or snowy and are also hazardous. When parking lots and drives are unsafe at SACC schools, the SACC program is closed. When our maintenance crews have had the opportunity to clear the school parking lots and entrances and have deemed those safe, we open the SACC program. The YMCA is an independent contractor with the school district and makes its own decisions about opening or closing its program.
Why is it that when you drive through many of Williamson county high school parking lots you see vehicles that the students are driving with out of county tags? I understand that a few grandparents may let them drive a vehicle they own and they live out of county. But if they are driving to our schools why not have a wheel/education tax they have to pay in Williamson county?
Williamson County Schools does not allow students from other counties to attend our schools unless they are children of employees who live outside of Williamson County. In that case, those families are allowed to pay tuition to attend. Many of the district’s employees live outside of Williamson County, so perhaps those are the car tags you see. Also, we occasionally find a non-custodial parent drops off a child on particular days during the week. Some non-custodial parents of WCS students live outside the county.
Tennessee law does establish that if students are attending a Williamson County school but reside in another county and don’t meet the guidelines mentioned above, it is considered fraud. If you know of a student who is attending Williamson County Schools but lives out of county, please call our fraud hotline, 472-5555, leave as much detailed information about the student and his residence as possible. We investigate these calls, provided we are given enough information, and we have found fraudulent enrollments through hotline information.
Next year, I will have a son at Spring Station Middle School and a son at Summit High School. Will they ride the same bus? Also, how soon will we be able to find out possible bus route pick-up/drop-off times?
Yes, the Spring Station and Summit High students will ride the same bus next year. Bus stop information for the 2011–2012 school year will be made available in July.