From NewsChannel5 in Nashville:
More than 200 Burrus Elementary students, along with others at Knox Doss Middle, are being reassigned to new schools after the Sumner County school board approved rezoning this week.
Most affected families in the Hendersonville area will start the next school year at Beech Elementary and TW Hunter Middle.
Nashville education blogger TC Weber takes a look at a debate over words in Sumner County – and argues that words matter:
Let’s talk about Sumner County, where a school board meeting turned into a culture war showdown over whether to call the December school break “Winter Break” or “Christmas Break.”
The name had been “Winter Break” for over 30 years—until last year, when the board changed it to “Christmas Break” without public input.
Board member Wade Evans admitted, “We did a bad job as a board because we did not represent everyone.”
Others disagreed. Member Andy Lacy said, “Christmas is Christmas. Why do we have to offend the masses to appease the 1%?”
This is the kind of debate that often gets passed off as minor or symbolic, but it reveals something deeper: who gets to define the public space, and whose identity is centered by default. Language matters—especially in public education, where every student is supposed to feel seen. It’s not just about semantics; it’s about belonging.
State Rep. William Slater who represents Trousdale County and part of Sumner County in the General Assembly, is actively promoting a school voucher scheme that could have devastating consequences for the public schools in his area.
Slater voted for the scheme – as did all of the representatives of Sumner County’s legislative delegation.
Now, the former headmaster of Hendersonville Christian Academy is actively seeking applicants to take public money to enrich private schools and their operators. The plan would also essentially provide a discount coupon to families already sending students to private schools.
State Rep. William Slater, R-Gallatin, is encouraging interested families in Trousdale and Sumner counties to apply for Education Freedom Scholarships (EFS) beginning May 15.
All Tennessee students can apply for the program, which provides a $7,295 scholarship to attend a private school that will best fit a child’s needs. Families are encouraged to apply early and have all necessary documents and information readily available.
In other states, vouchers have wrecked state and local budgets, resulted in property tax increases, and failed to improve student achievement.
A Republican member of the Sumner County School Board is backing a Republican and a Democrat in the August 1st election for new board members.
Outgoing District 4 board member Sarah Andrews announced via her Facebook page that she’s supporting Republican Meghan Breinig in District 8 and Democrat Holly Cruz in District 9.
Andrews notes in her post that fellow Republican Breinig is “attentive to the issues” and someone who is willing to “do research” on issues that come before the Sumner County Board of Education.
Andrews is also backing Democrat Holly Cruz in the District 9 race, citing Cruz’s “passion for high quality, excellent public schools.” She says that Cruz is a consensus-builder.
While the State of Tennessee continues to move slowly when it comes to investment in teacher compensation, local districts are stepping up.
Sumner County is the latest to announce planned pay raises for its teachers and staff.
Sumner County Schools approved an additional $28,950,000 in its budget to increase pay for all of its employees, according to an email sent to parents and the community. The school board has approved the following raises:
– Increasing classified staff pay to a minimum of $16 per hour.
– Increasing new teacher pay to $47,800, an average raise amount of $3,023 for experienced teachers.
The School Board passed the proposal by a 9-1 vote, with the lone dissenting vote noting he hoped to move starting pay up to $50,000 and ask the County Commission for additional funds for raises.
The proposal will now go through the budget approval process at the Sumner County Commission.
Almost as soon as the General Assembly passed legislation that would allow teachers to carry guns at school if they meet certain requirements, a number of school districts began saying they would not be participating.
Sumner County’s Director of Schools released a statement and video explaining why his district will not be arming teachers.
“Our teachers and principals carry tremendous responsibilities in teaching and supporting our students in the classroom. Our teachers and principals already play a critical role in school safety by ensuring that our safety procedures are followed in our school buildings daily. We do not want to add one more task or responsibility to them.”
Other districts also indicated they will not be participating in arming teachers.
The Sumner County School Board is asking its legislative delegation to oppose efforts to privatize Tennessee’s public schools by way of a voucher scheme.
The Tennessean reports:
The Sumner County Board of Education met in a special-called session last week to vote on a resolution against Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act.
Sumner County Board of Education officials approved the resolution in a 9-1 vote. Sumner County Board of Education Chairman Tim Brewer abstained from the vote.
It’s unclear whether some version of an expanded voucher plan will move forward this legislative session.
Earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee rejected an attempt to use funds allocated for vouchers ($144 million) to instead fund an increase in teacher pay. That funding would amount to a roughly 5% raise for all teachers.
In Sumner County, Shellie Young Tucker is seeking a seat on the School Board after serving four years on the County Commission from 2018-2022.
“My desire is to cultivate an educational environment that nurtures the growth and empowerment of every student. I’ll be your listening ear and fierce advocate.”
While on the County Commission, she was a consistent supporter of school funding in the district.
I wrote previously about an effort to remove the book Ways to Make Sunshine from school libraries in Sumner County.
After holding a hearing, the Board voted unanimously to deny the challenge – and to keep the book in school libraries.
Here’s more from NewsBreak:
The Sumner County School Board last week unanimously voted to keep the book “Ways to Make Sunshine” in school libraries. The book had been challenged as part of a new process that allows parents and community members to ask that books in school libraries be reviewed for possible removal.
After receiving a challenge to the book “Ways to Make Sunshine,” the board referred the book to a review committee.
That committee recommended keeping the book in the system’s school libraries.
Local education advocacy group Sumner For Good had encouraged the School Board to keep the book and celebrated the vote that will allow it to stay in libraries.
The group said of the vote:
“The Sumner County School Board voted to uphold the review committee’s choice and keep the beautiful story “Ways to Make Sunshine” by Renee Watson in our schools. This is another win for our kids, teachers, librarians, and staff.”
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Once again, a Sumner County School Board meeting will involve a review of a library book – and the possible removal of that book. The district has been down this road before:
Here’s more from NewsBreak on the current controversy:
The Sumner County School Board will meet in a study session on Tuesday, January 10th at 6PM. The meeting will include a discussion of whether or not the book “Ways to Make Sunshine” should be removed from the school system’s libraries.
The review process comes as a result of a challenge to the book subject to Tennessee’s new law allowing members of the community to suggest to the School Board that a book currently circulating in the school system’s libraries violates “community standards.”
After receiving a challenge to the book “Ways to Make Sunshine,” the board referred the book to a review committee.
That committee has recommended keeping the book in the system’s school libraries.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport