Rumor Mill – September 23, 2016

Published September 23, 2016

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 InFocus. Below are some of the questions we have received since our last issue.

Is the district looking to change the school calendar (starting school towards the end of August) along with changing school start times?

At the September 19 School Board meeting, the Board approved a calendar committee. It will be their job to submit a school calendar recommendation to the Board no later than March 1 per Board Policy 1.800. The calendar committee is comprised of teachers, Central Office personnel and a WCS parent.

The district held three community meetings this month to discuss school start times. The next step in the process is a survey scheduled to be distributed to parents, staff, high school students and members of the business community during the first week of October to gauge interest in possible changes. At this time, the Board is scheduled to discuss the start time topic at its November meeting.

What is the process to petition or request consideration for a neighborhood to be rezoned? We live in Arrington Retreat and the new Nolensville Middle and High School are nearly half the distance of the currently zoned schools. Nolensville is our community but the sense of community is somewhat lacking due not being zoned for Nolensville schools.

At this time, WCS administration is planning for the next rezoning to take effect in the Fall of 2018. A new elementary and middle school building similar to Mill Creek is scheduled to open in Thompson’s Station that Fall, and we anticipate that our continuing growth will necessitate some additional rezonings across the county. Both Nolensville and College Grove are growing. In addition to current enrollment numbers by grade level, pending and proposed residential developments, geography and school capacities are major factors in zoning. At this point, no possibility has been ruled out. We plan to have community meetings on rezoning before any Board vote, so be looking for those meetings to be scheduled no earlier than this coming Spring.