Maryville Daily Times

Board OKs committee oversight of new school construction; advisory committee includes county mayor

Reader Our-town writes:

There are several options that are going around to help with the overcrowded high schools.

1. Make Lanier Elementary and Porter Elementary high schools again.

2. Make two shifts at the high schools so that some kids go on first shift
and some go on second.

3. Have five quarters to the year with the requirement that students attend four of them to make a year. Currently their are four quarters in the year. The extra quarter would come from Summer.

Does anyone have an opinion on these options?

PUBLIC MEETING:

March 13, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the gym at the Everett Recreation Center. Review of site plans for the new intermediate school on Sevierville Road.

Darwin Day, Events this week!

199 years ago today was the birth of Charles Darwin.
It is also 149 years ago that On The Origin Of Species was published. Read it at: Link...
Also in audio at Link...

Local Darwin Day events have been organized by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. A schedule of events can be found here at the UT Evolutionary biology web site: Link...

A big evening event occurs tonight Feb. 12, 2008 at UTK. A lecture by Dr. Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education,
INTELLIGENT DESIGN, IS IT SCIENCE? IS IT VALID?
Tomorrow evening, Feb. 13, 2008 will be the film, WAR ON SCIENCE,INTELLIGENT DESIGN IN THE CLASS ROOM

Forrest Erickson

The John Sevier Area Residents group announce a Maryville City Meeting to discuss the impact of the new intermediate school on the Sevierville Road area. The details are as follows:

The City of Maryville has scheduled the next meeting, to be held at John Sevier School library on Tuesday evening, February 12, at 6 PM. Watch for an announcement in the newspaper. You are urged to attend, and to get the word out to folks whose neighborhoods were not represented in the first meeting last month, particularly residents along Everett High Road.

If you have questions, please reply to jsars.school@yahoo.com, which is monitored by Jennifer Franklin and Connie Miller, co-chairs of the former John Sevier 2020 group.

Knoxville News Sentinel: Pellissippi buys Hwy. 321 property for new Blount campus

The 39.5-acre property was purchased from James A. Bumgarner and Dorothy B. Petree for approximately $1.18 million. The land is located on Highway 321, with access from South Old Grey Ridge Road and Nelson Lane. The property fronts both sides of Highway 321, with about 3.5 acres on one side of the road and the remainder on the other side.

The Montessori Middle School, located on Louisville Road, will be opening in August 2008. There will be an informational meeting at the Blount County Library, today, Tuesday January 29, 6:00 - 8:00 PM. For more information visit www.discoveret.org/mms or call 985-8900.

So says the Tennessee Attorney General:

An opinion by Tennessee Attorney General Robert E. Cooper Jr. says that making developers pay for new schools would be a development tax and is not allowed under existing law.

"(S)uch a provision would conflict with both the spirit and the express language of the County Powers Relief Act," the opinion states.

That act prohibits Tennessee counties from enacting new infrastructure taxes or fees, other than an adequate facilities tax in which the county can charge developers up to $1 per square foot for new construction. If a county enacts that tax, it has to eliminate all of its other infrastructure taxes.

[..]

Rutherford County has tried multiple times to get around the County Powers Relief Act, first by asking the attorney general if the county could increase its existing $1,500 per home development tax, then by asking Hood to send a request to Cooper's office to consider whether developers could be required to pay for new schools.

UPDATE: More from the Tennessean.

UPDATE: TN AG Nov. 21st opinion here.

Congratulations to the Maryville High Rebels for an unprecedented fourth consecutive 4A State Championship.

According to the MDT, The Rebels have won 60 consecutive games, 99 of 100 and 113 of their last 115; they last lost during the regular season in September 2001.

Selected data from the Tennessee Department of Education 2007 Report Card:

(*2007 Graduation rates for Blount Co. system not available, 2006 figure used. Click post title to see table in wider view.)

Observations:

• The Blount Co. system spends the least per pupil, has the lowest percentage of local funding, and the lowest achievement.

• Alcoa spends the most per pupil and has the highest percentage of local funding, and has results in the middle.

• Alcoa has the highest percentage of minorities and Blount Co. has the lowest. All three systems are below the state average.

• Alcoa has the highest percentage of economically disadvanted and Maryville has the lowest.

• Hispanic students are outperforming in Maryville and Blount Co. schools and underperforming in Alcoa schools.

• Schools in the three Blount Co. systems outperform the state averages in most categories.

Your thoughts?

Last night the Maryville City School Board voted to accept Director Mike Dalton's recommendations for the schools. Here's the Daily Times story, which according to my wife who was at the meeting, accurately reflects what went down.

Link...

In short, they're expanding the high school, but there's no indication yet as to which expansion plan they'll use. Will they plow down houses up to Mountain View Avenue? Much of the drama of the evening centered on neighborhood opposition to school expansion. As a resident of the neighborhood (though not close enough to be directly affected) I think the school needs to consider removing some of the parking lot if necessary to make it fit within the current space. The elephant in the room has always been the football team - they won't split into two high schools for fear of breaking up the football dynasty. But I think cost is as much an issue as anything else. High schools are VERY expensive to build. The plan now calls for construction of a new high school after 2020.

The other major decision - and of more interest to me as a parent of a kindergartener and pre-schooler - is to construct a new intermediate school. Under the new system, the intermediate schools will include 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Supposedly, this was the result of a Fourth Grade Task Force decision. My wife, who has a background in education, thinks this is BS and that the decision is all about zoning (where would a new elementary school go?), money and property sites, and not about the educational needs of children. 4th graders are not mature enough to go from teacher to teacher the way middle and high school kids are. So will the 4th graders be completely separated from the 5th and 6th graders? Also, where will the zoning line lie between MIS and the new intermediate school? In five years they will begin planning for a new elementary school.

Anyway, these are the major issues decided. Fort Craig will take in the preschool program to relieve overcrowding at Foothills Elementary. Though I'm a Fort Craig parent I'm sympathetic to the charge that Fort Craig hasn't picked up its share of overcrowding.

Any other thoughts on the Maryville City Schools expansion plan? The school system is a point of pride for the City of Maryville. It's one of the best in the state, if not THE best. The reason is not wealth per se but parental involvement. But the system is at a crossroads of sort, as thousands of new people from the Knoxville area and elsewhere in the country move to Maryville.

According to the Maryville Daily Times Maryville Director of Schools Mike Dalton recommends that Maryville High School be expanded as opposed to building a new school.

Dalton sent the planners and architects back to the drawing board to come up with a way to minimize the impact on the neighborhood and traffic. He is also looking at the possibility of satellite facilities and separate "lower and upper" high schools.

Read the article for all the details.

It says that among the three options proposed (bigger school somewhere else, a second school, upgrading the existing school), an overwhelming majority of those polled chose the option of upgrading the existing school.

I guess this is all about protecting Maryville's championship football program?

There's a public input meeting tonight for residents in the Maryville High neighborhood to discuss future plans for the school. The meeting is at MHS, 7PM tonight (Monday the 17th).

As noted here by Amber Proffitt, there are also School Board meetings and forums tomorrow regarding this and other topics. Check Amber's post for the schedule and more details.

Depending on which plan is selected, the MHS expansion could have a huge impact on the neighborhood around the existing school. The Knoxville News Sentinel has an article about it in today's paper.

See this earlier BlountViews post for photos from around the neighborhood and some of the historic homes that could be affected.

The Maryville Daily Times has this news brief about the upcoming meetings.

If you caught the article in The Daily Times on September 11 entitled "Maryville Schools to Reach Capacity in Ten Years", and actually got past the misleading (yet comforting) title, then you may be aware of the critical situation that Maryville City Schools finds itself in Link... . As the title implies, MCS will reach capacity in ten years, however three of its schools are already past their maximum capacity. The future of the school system really is being shaped at this time, with decisions to be made about how to handle overcrowding and growth, and also with the retirement of Director of Schools, Mike Dalton.
I have blogged here before about the importance of maintaining small schools and I strongly believe in this. I believe that small student popultations are one of the most important factors in providing a quality educational experience for children. I would like to see MCS make this a priority for the future as well. If you agree, I hope you will make the time to support quality education in your community (whether you are a parent or not) and come give voice to your questions and concerns at one or all of the upcoming meetings. Here is the announcement:

The Maryville Board of Education is working to develop plans for facilities throughout the Maryville City school district to accommodate students both now and in the future. We are seeking input and invite parents and all public education stakeholders to participate in these public forums:

September 18
9:00 AM
Maryville Municipal Building

September 18
7:00 PM
Foothills Elementary

September 24
7:00 PM
John Sevier Elementary

Also, you may be aware that Dr. Dalton, our Director of Schools, will be retiring in December. The Tennessee School Board Association will lead a series of discussion groups on Tuesday, September 18, 2007. Throughout the day, employees and other community members will participate in input sessions. The public is invited to attend the session scheduled on September 18th at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at Maryville High School. We hope to hear from parents and the community about their views on issues and challenges facing our school system and our new Director of Schools.

Please come and help shape the future of education in Maryville!

As Flower mentioned here recently, there is ongoing controversy regarding the Maryville High expansion plans. Everyone seems to agree that additional capacity is needed. Not everyone agrees on how to accomplish that.

Architects and planners hired by the City have developed five alternate proposals, at least two of which require taking of nearby property by eminent domain. The neighborhood around the existing school consists of period and craftsman style homes of historical significance to downtown Maryville and its traditions.

One of the proposals, "option E", would take out at least one city block and possibly part or all of another. This is the plan that the City's consultants seem to be pushing.

It would be a shame to further damage the character of this neighborhood. In our opinion, one of the alternatives for a new, second high school would better meet Maryville's needs going forward and preserve what's left of the neighborhoods around the existing school. What do you think?

You can read more about the evolution of the expansion plan here, including links to news articles and a presentation on the five proposals made to City Council and the School Board in June.

This issue will be decided soon, possibly in September, so the City needs citizen input to make an informed decision that protects the interests of all who will be affected. City Council contact info is here, School Board contact info is here.

To give you an idea of the existing character of the neighborhood and what is at risk, attached are photos of some of the endangered homes and others from around the affected neighborhood . Click "read more" to view them...

Long-standing traditions..this is one argument that is being fought in the stance of expanding Maryville High School. What are your long-standing traditions? How about the traditions and values of your children? Remember your children taking their first steps, riding their bike without training wheels, running through the sprinkler during the hot summer months, playing childhood games like tag and hide an go seek with the neighborhood children.

For many of our families in this community, these traditions will be taken away, if our elected officials choose to expand Maryville High School at its current location. Historic neighborhoods will be destroyed. The environment will be damaged. Trees and homes that have been cherished for nearly 100 years will be taken. You can’t replace historic neighborhoods once they are destroyed.

Think about your neighborhood; think about the use of eminent domain on your house.
How do you explain these things to our children? When I explained to my children, who have grown up in this historic neighborhood, about the plans for MHS expansion…do you know what they said? “Mommy, someone needs to call the police!” “They can’t tear down peoples houses.” My other son said, “Mom, lets call the President of the United States!”

There are several new residential developments that are in the planning stages, one development, is planning for over 180 new homes. This is already been annexed for the City of Maryville. Instead of destroying historic neighborhoods, how about using the powers of eminent domain on the developers land and build a new high school on their property.

I understand the long-standing traditions and values that former MHS Alumni feel. High School is a very memorable transition in ones life. It is after all a transition, a four-year transition, one of many we will go through in our lifetime. We need to start thinking about our future, what is truly best for our children and their education.

In the end our children are our most important assets. What kind of values are we instilling in our children by destroying historic neighborhoods to expand a high school, when there are other options available? Please contact your local elected city council, school board member, and ask them for preservation in our community, not destruction.