Rumor Mill-5485
Published September 13, 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.
Has the start date for the 2014-15 school year been set yet? Is there a tentative date?
Discussions regarding the 2014-15 school year calendar will begin later this semester. The School Board typically votes on a calendar at its November meeting.
Please tell me why there are no seat belts on the school buses. The riders are our most precious possessions.
Federal rules require seat belts on buses that weigh 10,000 pounds or less. Larger buses are considered by federal standards to be safer in part because their size enables them to disperse the force of a crash better. Also, the seats are heavily padded on both sides in order to shield children from injury, a design element called compartmentalization.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States. In its 2002 Report to Congress, the NHTSA found that the addition of lap belts did not improve occupant protection for the severe frontal impacts that were studied for the report.
We recently read that Metro schools were having radon gas levels rechecked because there was an excessive amount of radon on the first floor of those schools. Several of our neighbors have had radon issues. When was the last time Williamson Country Schools were checked for radon?
The Environmental Protection Agency conducted radon testing at 17 of the then 18 Williamson County schools in the summer of 1989. The 18th school was the old Franklin High School that was subsequently torn down. At that time, the EPA reported, "No significantly elevated radon levels were identified in the Williamson County schools."
Many of our schools have radon venting systems which are designed to give a "course of least resistance" to the atmosphere for any radon gas that may seep out of the ground underneath the concrete slap the addition is built on. These passive systems are required on all of our new construction projects. This is particularly so since most of the radon testing done in the district (in 1989) showed no issues to be concerned about.
In addition, our schools have positive pressure HVAC systems that create a slight positive pressure inside the buildings. This pressure system works to prevent gas at atmospheric pressure from entering the building via cracks and crevices in the floor slabs, walls or doors.
Although Tennessee has no requirement for ongoing radon testing in schools, additional information about the state's radon program can be found online by going to http://www.tn.gov/environment/osp/gi/radon.
I read that the new auditoriums will have work tops stored between the seats that can be moved up to make a desk top. Are any of these designed for left handed students? My son thinks left handedness should be a protected class and schools required to accommodate them.
Approximately 10 percent of the work tops in the new auditoriums are designed to accommodate left handed students. However, left-handedness is of course not considered a disability under federal law.