New school zones before RCS board tonight on The Murfreesboro Post

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New school zones before RCS board tonight

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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer

Posted: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 2:14 pm

Rutherford County’s Board of Education will take another look at rezoning Murfreesboro high schools tonight.

“The Board asked for some other options to be presented so it can look at all of the various alternatives before taking a plan to a public hearing,” RCS spokesman James Evans said.

The board heard proposals in December that would shift students from increasingly overcrowded Riverdale High to Blackman High and shift students from Siegel High to Oakland to decrease to percentage of low-income students at the school.

“There will be some additional study areas presented tonight and the Board will likely discuss them all,” Evans said.

At December’s meeting, the board heard proposals beginning with Riverdale.

The first Riverdale proposal would move students in the Cason Lane area from Riverdale to Blackman. The shift would decrease Riverdale’s population to 2,013 and increase Blackman High’s population to 2,143.

The second proposal would move students living along River Rock Road from Riverdale to Blackman and decrease Riverdale’s population to 2,041 and put 2,118 students in Blackman.

The third proposal covers I-24 to Broad Street from Middle Tennessee Boulevard to Old Fort Parkway and would reduce Riverdale’s population to 2,112 and increase Blackman’s population to 2,044.

The board showed no preference between the proposals, but did discuss the impact on Blackman in coming years, fearing it would just trade overcrowding at Riverdale for overcrowding at Blackman.

The board then heard proposals to reduce the number of students on free and reduced lunch at Oakland by moving Siegel high schools students from more affluent areas.

The first proposal would move 202 students living in downtown Murfreesboro from Siegel to Oakland. But the proposed move would actually increase the number of poor students at Oakland from 36 percent to 39 percent and decrease Siegel’s burden, going from 20 percent to 15 percent.

The second proposal was more well received and would move students living east of along Lebanon Road to the north of Thompson Lane back to Oakland.

The board seemed more accepting of this proposal as it would reduce Oakland’s free and reduced lunch population from 36 percent to 34 percent.

The board will also hold a public hearing for the proposed Brown’s Chapel Elementary School zone at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Blackman Middle School, 3956 Blaze Dr.

The proposed Brown’s Chapel Elementary zone will contain 735 students with 170 students from Stewarts Creek, 250 students from Stewartsboro and 300 from Blackman Elementary. The school can house up to 1,000 elementary students.

The new school is scheduled to open for the 2009-2010 school year and cost around $21 million.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under RCS, Schools

Member Opinions:

By: Paused on 1/6/09
But the proposed move would actually increase the number of poor students at Oakland from 36 percent to 39 percent and decrease Siegel’s burden, going from 20 percent to 15 percent.

Poor Siegel's burden?

By: Geana on 1/6/09
LOL Paused. Yep, Siegel's burden?

The only thing that really caught my interest in these rezoning proposals was a parent talking about her children from the same family unit who could end up in two different high schools. This shouldn't be. Siblings close in age should receive exemptions to attend same high schools. At least grandfather current 7th and 8th graders to attend the same high school as their 9th and 10th grade siblings.