Zoning Proposal for Rocky Fork Middle Prompts Parent Concerns

SMYRNA, TN — As zoning plans often do, the proposal for the new middle school in Smyrna prompted concerns from parents.

Rutherford County Schools held the first of three meetings Wednesday with parents of students who will be affected by the opening of Rocky Fork Middle School in the fall of 2017. School officials emphasized the map as drawn now is just a starting point and zoning will not be finalized until December 1, giving parents plenty of time to work with the school board on a zoning plan that makes sense.

According to the Daily News Journal, school board members are especially interested in traffic flow to and from the new school, something kid-toting parents know better than anyone else.

Inevitably, though, the primary concern for parents was whether their children would have a choice to remain at their current school. Middle-school zoning changes, in particular, can be disruptive, as the students leave elementary school one year, attend a certain middle school the next, could potentially be in yet another school the next year and then head to high school, all during the early years of adolescence.

Rutherford County Schools director Don Odom said the system does allow zone exemptions and that there may be some consideration given to "grandfathering" students already enrolled at one school who might be zoned for Rocky Fork. But, according to the DNJ, he emphasized that exemptions and grandfathering are only applicable to one school, so Rocky Fork-zoned students who stay at their original middle school would still have to attend Smyrna High School as freshmen.

Odom also said the school's nickname will be the Storm with colors of Carolina blue and silver.

The proposal as it stands now would pull 243 students from Smyrna Middle, 194 from Rock Springs and 272 from Stewarts Creek. Two other public hearings are set on the proposed zoning: October 25 at Smyrna Middle and October 27 at Stewarts Creek Middle, both at 6:30 p.m.

Image via Rutherford County Schools