Fast-growing Rutherford County Schools will start the new year with retiring Chairwoman Shelia Bratton identifying eight goals to build schools, improve district funding and maintain academic standards.
The districts estimated 53,000-plus students at 51 schools will begin the year with a 2-hour abbreviated day for orientation on Wednesday before returning for their first full day Thursday.
What's new this year includes the converting of the former Roy Waldron Elementary Annex into a $2.4 million renovated building to serve as Simon Springs Community School in La Vergne. The new school that also used to be known as La Vergne Primary will serve students in grades 1-8, so they can learn to manage their behavior issues while pursuing academics to "reach their full potential," Bratton said.
"We will have people who are highly trained specialists to help these children forge a path to success in their home schools," said Bratton, who's completing a 48-year career in education by the end of August.
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Bratton will be presiding over her final Board of Education meeting Aug. 22 and complete her lone four-year term Aug. 31.
Bratton started in 1976 as a seventh-grade English teacher at Rutherford's Central Middle School. She served in that first job for 20 years before accepting an administrative job from the district to serve as a middle school coordinator of curriculum and instruction in 1996.
After retiring from being a full-time educator in 2011, Bratton continued to serve part-time with the district for a year as a team evaluator for teachers. She then worked part-time for Bedford County Schools for eight years as a teacher orientation facilitator and countywide instructional coach for K-8 teachers.
Bratton won her Zone 6 seat August 2020. Unopposed Republican nominee Butch Vaughn will succeed her starting in September following the Aug. 1 election.
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Bratton spoke to The Daily News Journal July 30 in the board's meeting room on the same day the district provided orientation training for teachers new to the Rutherford County system to hear from Schools Director James "Jimmy" Sullivan and other administrators.
"It is absolutely the best career choice that you can possibly make," Sullivan told the district's new elementary school teachers gathered in one large room for orientation at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro. "There's not a day that goes by that I'm not thankful."
Sullivan also urged the new teachers to take care of themselves in addition to serving the students.
The director manages a district with about 7,000 employees, bus drivers for 325 contracted routes and about 500 substitute teachers provided through a contractor. The district's main operation budget this year is $549.8 million.
The district's orientation training started in 1997 with Bratton teaming with Ray Butrum, a fellow administrator, organizing the first such event.
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Bratton's top 4 goals seek to relieve overcrowded schools
Bratton's farewell advice to fellow Board of Education members includes a top goal to obtain funding from the Rutherford County Commission to pay for the design and expansion of overcrowded La Vergne High School.
The project will follow the commission previously approving $156.3 million in funding April 2023 to expand Riverdale, Smyrna and Oakland high schools.
The second goal Bratton identified is for the board to obtain funding for the design and construction costs to build a middle school on the west side. District officials in 2023 estimated the middle school project would cost $71 and hope to the campus ready by August 2026.
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The future middle school will be adjacent to where a board contractor is building the nearly $59.9 million Poplar Hill Elementary on the northside of Baker Road near Blackman Road. The elementary school is scheduled to open by August 2025. Both future campuses are expected to relieve overcrowding at Blackman Elementary, Blackman Middle, Stewarts Creek Elementary and Stewarts Creek Middle.
The future west side schools will be on 61.4 acres of former historic Batey family farmland. The board paid $5.2 million for the property . John L. Batey still retains 347 acres of his family farm that dates back to 1807.
The third goal will be for the board to find land to build a high school on the northwest side of the county to relieve overcrowding at Stewarts Creek High in southwest Smyrna and La Vergne High, Bratton said.
The fourth goal will be for the board to obtain funding to design and build a high school on the northwest side.
The board's $744.7 million five-year building plan crafted in 2023 estimated the future north side high school will cost $137 million.
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Bratton wants district funding to be fair involving charter schools
Bratton said the fifth goal will be for the district to "continue our high academic standards," such as earning annual top Level 5 ratings from the Tennessee Department of Education.
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The retiring chairwoman said her sixth goal is for the board to remove portables, such as the 179 the district used for classrooms at overcrowded schools this past year. Many of the portables are over 25 years old and in bad shape, Bratton said.
The seventh goal will be for the board to finalize any amendments to a districtwide rezoning plan previously approved in November 2023, Bratton said.
The chairwoman said the eighth goal will be for the board to seek ways for state officials to establish a fairer up-front funding approach for public charter schools , including three opening this August:
- Rutherford Collegiate Prep, which will get over $8 million in state and local tax dollars to serve a projected 765 students in west Murfreesboro;
- Springs Empower Academy, which will get over $2.1 million in state and local tax dollars to serve a projected 204 students in central Smyrna;
- American Classical Academy Rutherford, which will get over $1.2 million in state and local tax dollars to serve a projected 117 students in central La Vergne.
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The district, however, does not collect up-front funding from the state to cover budgeted operations for growth, such as tax dollars at the start of the previous year to serve the gain of 1,200 students, Bratton said.
"We are funded by the state on last year's numbers," Bratton said.
The up-front money for the three charter schools caused a $11.4 million budget deficit to fund Rutherford County Schools this year, Mayor Joe Carr said.
The Rutherford mayor said if the charter schools do not serve their projected number of students than "how do we get the money back?"
"This is another example of where the Rutherford County taxpayers are being taken advantage of again," Carr said.
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Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.
Kay dates for students and parents in 2024-25 calendar
- Aug. 7 (Wednesday): school year starts with abbreviated registration day
- Aug. 8 (Thursday): first full-day of school
- Sept. 2 (Monday): Labor Day break from school
- Sept. 17 (Tuesday): Students off during teacher administrative day
- Oct. 7 (Monday) through Oct. 11 (Friday): Fall Break
- Oct. 22 (Tuesday): Parent teacher conferences 3-6 p.m.
- Nov. 5 (Tuesday): Students off for Election Day and a teacher administrative day
- Nov. 25 (Monday) through Nov. 29 (Friday): Thanksgiving break
- Dec. 20 (Friday): Two-hour day for students on final day of semester
- Dec. 23 (Monday) through Jan. 7 (Tuesday), 2025: Winter Break for students
- Jan. 8 (Wednesday): Students return from Winter Break
- Jan. 20 (Monday): Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday from school
- Jan. 28 (Tuesday): Students off during teacher administrative day
- Feb. 17 (Monday): Presidents' Day holiday from school
- March 13 (Thursday): Students off during teacher administrative day
- March 18 (Tuesday): Parent teacher conferences 3-6 p.m.
- March 31 (Monday) through April 4 (Friday): Spring Break
- April 18 (Friday): Good Friday break from school
- May 26 (Monday): Memorial Day holiday from school
- May 29 (Thursday): Students off during teacher workday
- May 30 (Friday): Last abbreviated two-hour day of school year
Other days that teachers work
- Aug. 1 (Thursday): Administrative Day (Discretionary Day 1)
- Aug. 2 (Friday): Districtwide in-service day
- Aug. 5 (Monday): Teacher workday
- Jan. 6 (Monday): In-service Day 3
- Jan. 7 (Tuesday): In-service Day 4
Source: Rutherford County Schools
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Retiring Rutherford school board Chairwoman Bratton shares 8 goals in farewell advice
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