Rumor Mill – September 1, 2017

Published August 29, 2017

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.

There are rumors about how the new school start times are going and the district’s plan to maintain or alter those time. Last year, parents attended sessions, completed a survey, the survey seemed to indicate that respondents were satisfied with the existing start times, and then start times changed. Is there any plan to survey again mid-year to see gather feedback now that we’ve had time to see the impact on students, work schedules and extra-curricular activities, etc.? Can we expect this change to remain in effect going into the 2018-2019 school year? In addition, there was a rumor that Power Mondays would go away with the start time change; will those always remain?

WCS Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney says the district will continue to gather information and evaluate the change to school start times. Looney will then report back to the School Board in the spring. Power Mondays were eliminated this year for elementary schools, however they will continue throughout the 2017-18 school year for middle and high schools. The School Board votes annually on whether to approve Power Mondays.

I am interested to know who organized the Williamson County College Fair on September 20 and how they chose the date. I am very disturbed to find out that this date was selected, which is also Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) which is one of the two most sacred days in the Jewish calendar. I want to express my disgust at the choice of this day, effectively excluding the Jewish community of Williamson County, and surrounding areas.

The Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO) organizes college fairs throughout the state of Tennessee every fall, and they designate the dates. Unfortunately, we did not realize the conflict with Rosh Hashanah when we agreed to our assigned date last spring. We have since contacted the TACRAO to let them know we will not participate on this holiday moving forward.

Any update on the new middle school off Clayton Arnold Rd? Rumor has it that it won’t open until Jan. 2019 and that current seventh graders can choose to stay at Heritage or attend the new school. Any truth to that?

There is no truth to that rumor. Both the elementary and middle school located on Clayton Arnold Road are on schedule to open in August 2018.