The following is an open letter written by the author to the Clarksville Montgomery County School Board. On July 27th, 2011 it was announced that CMCSS was proposing to rezone selected schools within the system with the changes to go into effect for the 2012 school year, if it passed. The public has been encouraged to provide feedback to the proposal for consideration by the school board prior to the September 13th, 2011 decision.
It is this author’s opinion that the decision to take this course of action has already been made, however there could still be some modifications made through grandfathering. Surprisingly, to this date there are many parents that are unaware of this proposal or the upcoming public meeting on September 6th. It is this author’s hope that we can make more of our parent’s aware as this specifically impacts our children and their future.
For more information on this matter, please go to: http://www.cmcss.net/news/2011/rezoningplan.aspx
The Letter
To our School Board Officials: First, I believe that the public meeting scheduled for the 6th of September will draw a crowd larger than the current location can safely handle. I do hope that everyone will be provided the opportunity to voice their concerns.
I wrote previously to you on this particular issue and will certainly be one of those present come 6 September along with many of our neighbors. I understand and appreciate the difficult position that you all find yourselves in at this point, but we ask that you look at the impact that this could have on many of our children who are in their most critical years.
As stated in my earlier letter, we like other parents chose to move to our current home because of the schools. Our daughter has built solid relationships with many children and my wife and I are active in the school and have built relationships with parents along the way.
As it stands in your proposal, the children going into their junior and senior year in 2012 will be grandfathered, thus allowing them to remain at the school they are currently attending. I implore you to consider allowing all children who have started their high school education as of this year (2011) to have the choice to remain at the school they currently attend.
If a student is a freshman in the 2011-12 school year, they should be allowed to graduate from that school. Surely doing so would not have a major impact on the proposed rezoning. Conversely, by not allowing the freshmen of 2011 the opportunity to remain at their current High School would have a major impact, causing a severe disruption to our children’s social network and high school experiences.
While I am sure many parents with children in elementary or middle school do not enjoy the thought of rezoning their children, doing so in these years will allow their children to have time to develop and build relationships prior to moving into high school. High School is one of the most influential times of our children’s lives, and to make them move from a school they have already started will be counterproductive in furthering their education.
High School is the last pillar in our public education system and by educational, emotional and social aspects the most important of these pillars. You don’t hear adults speak of their elementary or middle school years so much as you do their High School years. Certainly you have taken some of this into account with your proposal to grandfather the sophomore and junior classes of 2011.
I humbly ask that you consider allowing our freshmen of 2011 the option on whether to remain at their current school or to move as is being proposed for the sophomore and juniors of 2011.
