Rumor Mill-5478

Published August 30, 2013

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 have received since our last issue.

We are new to Scales this year and we have been overall very pleased with the welcome to WCS. However, last week, as the girls got on the bus for the first time this morning, I learned they are the first ones picked up and the last ones dropped off each day, about 45 minutes each way. This is a long ride for a little one brand new to school!

I heard that this is how it is going to be unless parents say something because "this is how it has been since I have been here for 28 years and we don't have any plans to change it" according to the transportation office? Is it true there are no hopes for a more fair total bus riding time?

It hardly seems fair to ask these young ones to spend 1.5 hours on the bus daily while others spend a total of 10 minutes routinely. Would it not be more fair to reverse the route order during one time of the day?

Each bus route is evaluated to determine if students can be delivered home in the same order as they are picked up in the mornings. In many cases, this can be done but for areas at the edge of the zone, it is more efficient and economical to deliver students home in reverse order.

We have a district policy that students are not to ride the bus longer than 60 minutes. This does not include the bell time, but from the time the first student boards the bus to the arrival time at school. Buses arrive 15 minutes prior to the bell time to allow for traffic and unloading purposes.

With the new Nolensville high school and adjacent K-8 school supposed to open in the next two years, when can we expect another county-wide rezoning? It seems LONG overdue.

The 2013-14 school year is our third school year since our county-wide rezoning took place in 2010. We anticipated with continued growth in our community that rezoning should serve us three years, and it has done so.

At this time, we have not discussed any rezoning needs for 2014-2015. That discussion will occur after we have seen actual growth numbers at our schools for the 2013-2014 school year. However, we do not anticipate any county-wide rezoning in the near future. We expect that any rezoning recommendations will be related to needs in specific areas of the county.

I’ve heard that Spring Station Middle School is over capacity and both Page Middle and Heritage Middle are under capacity. There are whispers of a possible rezoning for next school year (2014-2015) to even out the numbers. Is this in the works?

The district has not discussed any rezoning needs for the 2014-2015 school year at this time. Any potential rezoning discussions do not take place until we have seen actual growth numbers at our schools for the 2013-2014 school year as those numbers tend to fluctuate during the first few months of the school year.

Could you address the Williamson County policy on recess for grades K-5, and the use of loss of recess time as punishment for poor behavior? While I understand using the loss of something valued (in this case, recess time) as an incentive for good behavior, I also know that more is being required of our students academically, and the students need an opportunity to stretch their bodies as well as their minds.

While Williamson County Schools does not have an official policy regarding recess for grades K-5, there are guidelines for daily physical activity and daily recess as outlined below.

Guideline for Daily Physical Activity K-5

All students in grades K-5 shall receive daily physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week (this recommended time is inclusive of physical education and recess) for the entire school year.

Students in grades K-5 presently receive physical education classes two times a week for 45 minutes and recess each day for 20 minutes. That means we currently exceed the recommended 150 minutes minimum by 40 minutes.

Guideline for Daily Recess K-5

All elementary school students shall have at least 20 minutes of supervised recess every day, preferably outdoors, during which schools should encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity verbally and through the provision of space and equipment. Schools will discourage extended periods (i.e. periods of two or more hours) of inactivity. When activities, such as mandatory school-wide testing, make it necessary for students to remain indoors for long periods of time, schools will give students periodic breaks during which they are encouraged to stand and be moderately active.

Teachers should not use denial of recess for punitive reasons, behavior or otherwise, but occasionally, in efforts to help a student with missed assignments or to do quick make-up work, teachers are allowed to use up to 10 minutes of the 20 minutes of the recess time. At times, parents will request teachers to use part of their child’s recess time in an effort to allow make-up of missed assignments or assessments.

Additionally, as a general rule, during academic instructional blocks of time, teachers will structure “brain breaks” or “brain break activities” where students can be up moving and/or free to socialize either as part of the instruction or as a quick break from instruction.