During Tuesday night’s meeting, the Williamson County School board will have some heavy items on the agenda.
Here’s some background on what they will look at and discuss.
While meetings normally convene on Monday, the board’s meeting will happen tonight, Tuesday, as a result of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Those interested can sit in the audience starting at 6:30 p.m. inside the Williamson County Administrative Complex.
Provisions for rezoning
As the Williamson County School Board discussed on Thursday night, they will more than likely have two provisions guiding them.
The board decided they wanted to affect as few families as possible. They also want to maintain existing feeder patterns as much as possible. For example, the board would want to keep students that start at Crockett Elementary School to continue on to Woodland Middle School and end their years at Ravenwood High School.
Williamson County Schools hasn’t had a district-wide rezoning since 2010.
The calendar
The only item changed from the previous iteration is when fall break starts and ends, which the board changed at its Thursday night work session.
Here’s how the calendar looks:
– School will start Aug. 10
– A three-day fall break will happen Oct. 11-13
– No Veteran’s Day off
– A week-long Thanksgiving break from Nov. 20-24
– Two-week winter break from Dec. 22-Jan. 4
– Week-long spring break from March 26-30
– Last day of school May 18
Getting to this calendar took more than two months for the Williamson County School Board. Previously, nearly 13,000 community members responded to three calendar options. In an effort to compromise, the district staff and Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney worked with the board to create what is now known as calendar M.
The dress code updates
During a Thursday night work session, the board worked out the provisions of the new dress code.
Here are the provisions:
• Tops of shoulders must have a minimum of a 2-inch strap for students in grades 6-12 and a minimum of 1-inch strap for students in grades K-5 unless otherwise covered by an opaque top garment.
• Skin and undergarments must be covered with opaque clothing from the midriff to mid-thigh
• All pants, shorts and skirts must be held at the waist
• Leggings, jeggings, and other compression-style garments may be worn so long as an opaque top garment covers the buttocks and genitalia
• Hats may be worn in buildings with the permission of building administration
• Any type of clothing, apparel or accessory, including that which denotes such students’ membership in or affiliation with any gang associated with criminal activities is not permitted
The policy starts with asking students to wear clothes respecting themselves. Rules for the updated policy – which have been made since 1999 – went through three task forces. Students, administrators and parents all received a say in what they would like to see happen.
This is only the first reading of the dress code up for vote. The board can still edit and add provisions to the policy.
Emily West covers Franklin, education and the state legislature for the Franklin Home Page. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter via @emwest22.
